Listen to Story Poor sleep quality in early middle age could be linked to signs of faster brain ageing later in life, according to a new study. Published in Neurology , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, the research highlighted that people in their 40s with sleep issues like trouble falling or staying asleep had more signs of brain ageing by their late 50s. Although the study does not prove that poor sleep speeds up brain ageing, it shows a strong association between poor sleep and a greater decline in brain health.
“Previous research has linked sleep problems to poor memory and thinking skills later in life, increasing the risk for dementia,” said Dr Clemence Cavailles from the University of California San Francisco, the study’s lead author. “Our findings suggest that poor sleep in middle age is connected to nearly three extra years of brain ageing.” The study followed 589 people with an average age of 40 at the start.
Participants completed sleep questionnaires twice, once at the beginning and again five years later, and underwent brain scans 15 years after the study began. The scans helped researchers estimate the age of each participant's brain based on signs of brain shrinkage , a known marker of ageing. Although the study does not prove that poor sleep speeds up brain ageing, it shows a strong association between poor sleep and a greater decline in brain health.
(Photo: Getty Images) Participants were grouped based on their sleep habits.