Lack of Sleep Lessens Exercise’s Brain-Boosting Benefits, New Study Says

Exercise has been proven to be one of the best ways to keep your body healthy, with its benefits including preventing chronic disease, lengthening life, and slowing cognitive decline. But when it comes to ensuring those benefits extend to your brain, it’s the time you spend asleep that could have just as much of an effect on your mind as working out does.

A new study out of the U.K. points out the importance of sleep, especially as you age. The English Longitudinal Study of Aging followed 9,000 adults over the age of 50 throughout a 10-year period and observed their cognitive abilities in relation to their sleep levels. Researchers found that people with more frequent, higher-intensity physical activity who slept less than six hours a night on average experienced faster overall cognitive decline than short sleepers who exercised infrequently.

“Our study suggests that getting sufficient sleep may be required for us to get the full cognitive benefits of physical activity,” lead author Dr. Mikaela Bloomberg, a research fellow at the Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care at University College London, said of the findings, per CNN. “It shows how important it is to consider sleep and physical activity together when thinking about cognitive health.”

The discovery caught the team off-guard and defied some conventional wisdom. “We were surprised that regular physical activity may not always be sufficient to counter the long-term effects of lack of sleep on cognitive health,” Bloomberg said.

Related: Best Sleep Habits to Optimize Performance, Wellness, and Longevity

Physically active short sleepers in their 50s and 60s dealt with more rapid cognitive decline when compared with longer sleepers, but that trend only holds up until a certain age. The researchers found that people age 70 and older continue to reap the benefits of exercise on the brain despite short sleep.

“By age 70 years, the cognitive benefit associated with higher physical activity was maintained over the ­10-year follow-up period,” the authors said in the report. “Our results suggest the importance of considering physical activity and sleep together, as these factors might combine in complex ways to influence cognitive trajectories from age 50 years onwards.”

A holistic approach to health is crucial, especially as we age. So even if you stay moving, remember to also prioritize the time spent in bed not moving.

No Byline Policy

Editorial Guidelines

Corrections Policy

Source