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nt research findings suggest that quality and duration of sleep earlier in life affect your health years down the road. Investigators at Baylor University investigated the past 50 years of sleep research, analyzing approximately 200 studies measuring sleep and mental functioning.
The researchers investigated the link between sleep and brain functioning by addressing sleep deprivation, naps and interventions. Subjects were categorized as young (18 to 29), middle-aged (30-60) and older adults (60 and up). The results demonstrated that the benefits of adequate sleep in young and-middle aged people benefited the individuals later in life. The investigators also found that sleeping well in middle-age predicted better mental functioning 26 years later. The importance of slow brain wave sleep is critical because it helps consolidate memory and improve cognition. Therefore, the benefits of sleep early in life may delay age related changes in thinking and memory since quality and quantity of sleep are often dampened with age. Sleep plays an important role in mental health, it can improve cardiovascular health and lessen risk of other disorders and diseases.
The University of Florida Pain and Fatigue Research Center currently investigates the role of sleep monitoring related to chronic fatigue. For more information on our current studies, please call us at 352-265-8901 or email us at painresearch@medicine.ufl.edu.