(Deborah Kan/ Being Patient) — Siesta. Power nap. Forty winks. Call them what you will: Naps have been found to benefit mood, alertness, energy levels, cognitive performance, and, in cultures where daytime naps are custom, even healthier aging at large. Despite the perks, only about a third of U.S. adults nap regularly. A new study begs an unexpected question: What portion of daytime nappers are boosting their brain health, versus bearing a red flag for cognitive health problems?
A research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found a link between excessive daytime napping and cognitive aging: excessive daytime napping predicted an increased future risk of Alzheimer’s, and a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s sped up the increase in daytime napping during aging. The 2022 findings were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Sleep has been an increasing focus of study when it comes to learning what causes dementia, how to predict it and how to diagnose it: Deep sleep — when body temperature drops, dreams fade, and brain activity levels out into slow, rhythmic electrical waves — has been linked to the clearing of harmful brain toxins that may cause Alzheimer’s and related dementias. (…)
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