One Sleep Behavior That Boosts Brain Health

 This Single Sleep Behavior May Be More Crucial Than Sleep Duration for Cognitive Wellness

A recent graduate from Duke University, where she earned a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology. Previously, Ava held the position of Patient Education Lead for Duke Hospital affiliated initiatives, centering on addressing food scarcity and childhood obesity.

We’ve all experienced the mental haze following a restless night’s sleep. However, beyond the sluggishness, emerging research indicates that consistently skimping on specific sleep phases, particularly deep and REM sleep, could have a lasting impact on your brain.

 According to a recent study that followed adults for more than a decade, people who slept less REM and slow-wave (deep) sleep were more likely to show shrinkage in parts of their brains that usually degenerate first in Alzheimer's disease.

These results contribute to an expanding collection of research linking sleep with long-term cognitive wellness, adding further depth to the notion that our sleep patterns today influence our mental clarity tomorrow.

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Let’s explore the study and, more crucially, how to nurture these rejuvenating stages of sleep to safeguard your brain over time.

How deep & REM sleep influence brain wellness throughout the years

Researchers examined data from 270 middle-aged and older individuals, the majority of whom were in their early 60s at the study’s inception. Each participant underwent an overnight sleep assessment to gauge how much time they spent in various stages of sleep, like slow-wave sleep (also referred to as deep sleep) and REM sleep.

Then, approximately 13 to 17 years later, those same individuals underwent brain scans to assess the size of specific areas known to be susceptible in Alzheimer’s disease, such as the inferior parietal lobule and precuneus. These regions are critical in memory, attention, and spatial reasoning—all abilities that tend to diminish early in dementia.

The researchers aimed to unveil if there was a long-term correlation between the quality of someone’s sleep years prior and their brain volume today. And that’s precisely what they uncovered.

 Poorer sleep quality leads to smaller brain regions associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Individuals who attained less slow-wave and REM sleep were more likely to have shrinkage in brain regions linked to early Alzheimer’s. Specifically:

Less deep sleep correlated with smaller volumes in the inferior parietal and cuneus regions.

 Smaller volumes in the precuneus and inferior parietal regions were linked to less REM sleep.

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While this study did not establish that poor sleep directly caused the brain alterations, the correlation was robust enough to raise alarm, especially considering these areas are among the first to experience decline in Alzheimer’s advancement.

These discoveries build on previous research indicating that deep sleep plays an essential role in eliminating waste in the brain, such as beta-amyloid, the protein that accumulates in Alzheimer’s.

One investigation revealed that even one night of disrupted deep sleep resulted in increased beta-amyloid buildup. Additional research demonstrates that slow-wave sleep bolsters the glymphatic system, a sort of “rinse cycle” for the brain that may aid in preventing neurodegeneration.

So, how can you enhance your sleep structure?

While we cannot yet exactly control how much REM or SWS we receive, several well-substantiated practices may assist:

• Prioritize sleep regularity: Going to bed and awakening at the same time daily enhances sleep cycling.
• Avoid late caffeine consumption: Caffeine too near bedtime can impede deep sleep. Strive to keep your caffeine intake within the first half of the day.
• Get early sunlight: Morning light exposure helps ground your circadian rhythm, which can enhance both sleep quality and architecture.
• Exercise frequently: Aerobic and resistance workouts have been shown to augment the proportion of SWS and REM over time.
•  Reduce alcohol consumption: Because alcohol has a negative effect on REM sleep later in the night, limit your intake of it before bed.