The longer our life expectancy is, the greater the association of risk to dementia or neurocognitive degeneration. 1 out of 10 people over the age of 65 are affected throughout the world.
As people age, we see an inevitable decline in working memory, awareness and verbal fluency. Sleep patterns tend to change and taking regular naps become more frequent.
According to research published in General Psychiatry, an online publication. Taking more afternoon naps may be linked to greater mental agility.
The study took place in China and involved 2214 healthy people aged 60 and older from mostly large cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Xian.
1534 of the participants took regular afternoon naps, while 680 didn’t. They all had a series of health checkups and cognitive assessments like the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) for dementia. Before and after the study.
The participants in both groups all slept an average of 6.5 hours at night.
Naps were taken after lunch and defined as at least 5 minutes to no more than 2 hours and ranged from once a week to everyday.
The dementia test screened for 30 categories, measuring different aspects of cognitive function like, memory, attention span, problem solving, visual-spatial skills, verbal fluency and locational awareness.
The findings from the MMSE performance scores were significantly higher overall for the napper group. Most of the higher scores were indicated in verbal fluency. awareness and working memory.
This study was an observational one so no direct causational affect could be empirically determined.
But, researchers know that our bodies mainly repair themselves when we are at rest. Sleep regulates our body’s immune response to inflammation. They noted that people in general with higher inflammation levels took more naps. So, naps could be an indicator of early underlying inflammatory conditions.
Also, inflammatory chemicals have a significant role in sleep disorders.
So if we conclude that as we age we require more activity from exercise because of compromises in our circulatory and respiratory systems. Along with a more proper diet of nutrient dense digestible friendly foods that are more easily absorbed by the aging body.
Then it makes sense that, getting more sleep by taking regular naps can play an important role in supporting both our mental and physical health as we grow older.
– A Balanced Brain is a Rested Brain-