Sleeping too much can be harmful, it affects your mental skills
Friday, October 12, 2018 IST
The amount of sleep associated with highly functional cognitive behaviour was the same for everyone (seven to eight hours), regardless of age. Also, the impairment associated with too little or too much sleep did not depend on the age of the participants, the researchers said.
While lack of proper sleep has been known to affect health, a new study has showed that people who sleep less or more than an average of seven to eight hours per night are more likely to develop impairments in their mental skills. The findings showed that sleep affected all adults equally.
The amount of sleep associated with highly functional cognitive behaviour was the same for everyone (seven to eight hours), regardless of age. Also, the impairment associated with too little or too much sleep did not depend on the age of the participants, the researchers said.
“We found that the optimum amount of sleep to keep your brain performing its best is seven to eight hours every night and that corresponds to what the doctors will tell you need to keep your body in tip-top shape, as well,” said lead author Conor Wild, Research Associate at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
“We also found that people that slept more than that amount were equally impaired as those who slept too little,” Wild added. For the study, published in the journal SLEEP, the team examined more than 40,000 participants.
Nearly half of all participants reported typically sleeping less than 6.3 hours per night, about an hour less than the study’s recommended amount. Most participants who slept four hours or less performed as if they were almost nine years older.
Importantly, the participants’ reasoning and verbal abilities were two of the actions most strongly affected by sleep while short-term memory performance was relatively unaffected. On the other hand, even a single night’s sleep can affect a person’s ability to think. Participants who slept more than usual the night before participating in the study performed better than those who slept their usual amount or less, the researchers said.
Related Topics
Related News & Articles
A mental illness may be a terrible thing to suffer from, regardless of age. Kids usually lack the resources, awareness, and coping abilities to acquire treatment.
Recently posted . 833 views . 1 min read
Regular sleep disruptions can increase the difficulty in shifting attention away from negative thoughts
Recently posted . 684 views . 1 min read
Overexercising, intake of aerated drinks, lack of sleep, and continuous sitting are some of the bad habits that can affect your body in the ...
Recently posted . 661 views . 1 min read
Sleep is a modifiable risk factor for various conditions including obesity and cardio-metabolic disease with some figures suggesting a lot of adults are not getting...
Recently posted . 1K views . 1 min read
Pupil dilation - widening of the pupils of the eyes - could be used to indicate levels of stress of a person in a multitasking environment.
<...
Recently posted . 750 views . 1 min read
Trending News & Articles
Lung cancer is usually not noticeable during the early stages. Most people are diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage. According to Cancer.org, it is ...
Recently posted . 7K views . 2 min read
The health benefits of wood apple include [1] relief from constipation, indigestion, peptic ulcer, piles, respiratory problems, diarrhea, and dysentery. It also b...
Recently posted . 4K views . 2 min read
Bael, also known as the “Wood Apple”, is a species native to India. The bael tree is considered to be sacred to the Hindus. A famous drink known as sh...
Recently posted . 4K views . 2 min read
Do you know what milia are? Milia is a skin condition which causes the appearance of small white hard bumps on the skin which usually appear on the face, neck or ch...
Recently posted . 4K views . 2 min read
More in Food & Health
Do you frequently be afflicted by lower back ache? nicely, this is one of the tense trouble which most people have skilled at some point. The ache can be of various...
Recently posted. 720 views . 10 min read
We look into the top 10 exercise bikes that you can buy online in India.
Outdoor cycling always is a great w...
Recently posted. 1K views . 9 min read
In 'The First Cell', Azra Raza argues that it’s far more effective to attack cancer in its earliest stages.
Recently posted. 789 views . 0 min read
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 722 views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views . 69 min read
Recently posted . 1K views . 45 min read
There is not one right answer for often you should workout. That is good news because this allows you to create a workout plan that best fits you, and it&rsqu...
Recently posted. 331 views . 1 min read
Ingredients:
1.oil for deep frying
2.1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3.salt according to taste
4.5-6 raw banana...
Recently posted. 821 views . 5 min read