Your Sleep Quality May Affect How Fast Your Brain Ages, New Study Finds

Scientists have repeatedly found that good sleep is linked to better health and longevity. But new research has discovered that your sleep quality may affect how fast your brain ages. That was the major takeaway from a study published in Neurology earlier this week. Researchers analyzed health data from 589 people who were 40 years-old at the study start time. Participants were asked to fill out sleep questionnaires at the beginning of the study and after five years, answering questions like: “Do you usually have trouble falling asleep? Do you usually wake up several times at night? Do you usually wake up far too early?”

Participants were also evaluated on six poor sleep characteristics, including: short sleep duration, bad sleep quality, trouble falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, getting up too early, and daytime sleepiness. Between this information and detailed brain scan imaging done on each participant, researchers were able to calculate their official “brain age.”

Scientists found that people with two or three poor sleep characteristics had a brain that was about 1.6 years older than those with no more than one poor sleep characteristic. And those with more than three poor sleep characteristics had an average brain age that was 2.6 years older than those with one or less poor sleep characteristics. Ultimately, the researchers concluded that “poor sleep was associated with advanced brain age in midlife.”

If your sleep isn’t the best right now, it’s understandable to be a little nervous about these findings—but you don’t need to stress out over them.

First, it’s important to point out that the study simply found a link between people who said they had sleep issues at two different points in time and an older brain age. There are a lot of other factors that go into your brain health, making it difficult to pin this all on sleep. Also, it’s entirely possible that the participants were simply on a bad sleep streak when they took the questionnaires, and that it wasn’t reflective of how they slept as a whole.

All of that said, sleep quality is important for a whole host of reasons. And, if there’s a chance that having quality sleep will help your brain age slower? Even better.

How to improve your sleep quality

You might already know that good is sleep is important, but if you need a reminder: Adults should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). If you’re getting less than that, you may put yourself at higher risk for developing several health issues—including cardiovascular disease, metabolic problems, and hormonal issues, per the NHLBI.

While getting seven-plus hours of sleep a night should be a priority, your sleep quality also matters. That usually starts with your sleep hygiene, which you can improve by following these tips, according to the NHLBI:

• Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, including on weekends.
• Aim to exercise regularly, but ideally no later than two to three hours before your bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine and nicotine in the afternoon.
• Don’t drink alcohol before bed (it keeps you in the lighter stages of sleep and raises the odds you’ll wake up in the middle of the night).
• Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
• Don’t take naps after 3 p.m.
• Try to relax and unwind before bed.
• Create a good sleeping environment, getting rid of anything in your bedroom that might distract you from sleep, like noises and bright lights, an uncomfortable bed, or a TV or computer in the bedroom.
• Keep your bedroom cool.
• Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least 30 minutes each day.
• If you’re still awake in bed after 20 minutes, get up and do a relaxing activity until you feel sleepy.

Finally, if you consistently find yourself dealing with sleep issues, talk to a doctor. They can help get to the root cause of your sleep problems and offer a solid treatment options from there.