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In today's fast-paced world, finding time to sleep can be both challenging and sporadic, but new research shows an association between midlife and later life sleeping habits and memory. The study suggests that extreme changes in average sleep duration (a variation by two or more hours in either direction) from middle age to older age may lead to decreased memory later in life.
Led by Elizabeth Devore, ScD, and published in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society earlier this month, "Sleep Duration in Midlife and Later Life in Relation to Cognition: The Nurses' Health Study" found that women who slept five or fewer hours, or nine or more hours per day, either in midlife or later life, had worse memory (equivalent to nearly two additional years of age) than those sleeping seven hours per day. Women whose sleep duration changed by more than two hours from midlife to later life had worse memory than women with no change in sleep duration.
"Given the importance of preserving memory into later life, it is critical to identify modifiable factors, such as sleeping habits, that lead to optimal memory function," Devore said. "Our findings suggest that getting an ‘average' amount of sleep, seven hours a day, may help maintain memory in later life, and that clinical interventions based on sleep therapy should be examined for the prevention of cognitive impairment."
In total, 15,263 female nurses participated in the study. Participants were 70 years of age or older and free of stroke and depression at the initial cognitive assessment. This study was the first to evaluate associations of sleep duration at midlife and later life, and change in sleep duration over time with memory performance in later life.
"These findings add to our knowledge about how sleep impacts memory," said Devore. "More research is needed to confirm these findings and explore possible mechanisms underlying these associations."