WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A large new study shows that poor sleep habits may make the brain look physically older than about a year on average.
For the study, researchers examined brain scans and sleep patterns of more than 27,000 middle-aged and older adults in the UK.
The study, published in eBioMedicine, used advanced brain imaging and artificial intelligence to estimate 'brain age' based on over 1,000 brain features.
Meanwhile, to measure sleep quality, the researchers looked at five factors - whether someone is a morning or night person, how many hours they sleep (with seven to eight considered best), whether they have insomnia, whether they snore, and whether they feel very sleepy during the day.
Based on these traits, they gave each person a 'sleep score.' People with four or five healthy sleep traits were considered good sleepers, those with two to three were intermediate, and those with zero or one were poor sleepers. Only 41 percent of participants were classified as good sleepers, more than half fell into the intermediate group, and about 3 percent had poor sleep.
For every one-point drop in sleep score, the gap between brain age and actual age widened by about half a year. Being a night owl, sleeping too much or too little, and snoring showed the strongest links to older-looking brains.
However, the encouraging news is that sleep habits can be improved. Keeping a regular sleep schedule, avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and screens before bedtime, and creating a quiet, dark sleep environment can all help improve sleep quality and protect brain health.
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