Daytime Napping May Help Preserve Brain Health by Slowing Down Rate of Shrinkage As We Age

(Photo: Pexels/Polina Zimmerman)
Daytime Napping May Help Preserve Brain Health by Slowing Down Rate of Shrinkage as We Age

According to a new study, regular napping can help maintain our brain health. It can reportedly do so by slowing down the rate of shrinkage.

Regular Napping in the Daytime and Brain Health

Researchers at UCL and the University of the Republic in Uruguay analyzed data from individuals aged 40 to 69 and found a causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volume -- a marker of good brain health linked to a lower risk of dementia and other disorders, ScienceDaily reported.

Short daytime naps for some people may be a piece of the puzzle that helps maintain the brain's health as we age, according to senior author Dr. Victoria Garfield (MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL).

Previous studies have demonstrated that taking a nap offers cognitive advantages, with nappers performing better on cognitive tests hours later than non-nappers.

The most recent research sought to determine whether daytime napping and brain health were causally related.

According to the research team's calculations, the average brain volume difference between those trained to snooze frequently and those who did not was equal to 2.6 to 6.5 years of age.

However, the researchers did not observe any differences in the performance of those trained to snooze frequently on three additional cognitive function tests and brain health, including hippocampus volume, reaction time, and visual processing.

It is the first study to attempt to determine the causal association between habitual daytime napping and cognitive and structural brain outcomes, according to lead author and Ph.D. candidate Valentina Paz of the University of the Republic (Uruguay) and the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL. Mendelian randomization reduces confounding factors affecting relationships between napping and health outcomes by focusing on fixed genes at birth. The research suggests a causal relationship between regular naps and increased brain volume.

Garfield hoped that research like theirs, demonstrating the health advantages of brief naps, might assist in reducing any stigma that may persist around daytime napping.

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Other Benefits of Daytime Napping

While some questioned one's productivity whenever they nap, several sources claimed that dozing off offers some benefits. According to Mayo Clinic, for healthy adults, napping can help with relaxation, reduce fatigue, increase alertness, and improve mood and performance. When one naps, they tend to have quicker reaction time and better memory.

Harvard Medical School added that short daytime sleep is beneficial when one is in good health, especially when catching up late at night. Dr. Suzanne Bertisch, an Associate Physician and Clinical Director of Behavioral Sleep Medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, also said that aside from reducing sleepiness, it improves memory in the laboratory setting.

However, on a population level, numerous epidemiological studies have revealed that napping has both advantages and disadvantages.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, naps can be short, 15 to 30 minutes or longer. Both short and long naps can increase alertness. A short nap does not interfere with nighttime sleep since it does not lower the homeostatic accumulation of pressure for sleep and can boost alertness for a few hours following the nap with reduced grogginess.

The grogginess from sleep inertia may be less on awakening. It may disappear more quickly (within 15 to 30 minutes) if you wake up from a nap in either 20 minutes (before entering deeper sleep) or about 90 minutes (predicted to be the end of a sleep cycle). Your brain may enter deep sleep more quickly if you are extremely sleep deprived when you begin your nap, though. As a result, even after a little period of sleep, sleep inertia may last longer, making it harder for you to get up and feel awake.