benefits of daytime sleep They are the subject of heated debate. Some people consider it almost a lazy habit. Other people don’t think it’s synonymous with laziness, but warn that it is excessive sleep It may be dangerous. However, more and more experts say that if the dream is not very long, then it is really useful. One such study has just been published by the group scientists from the US, UK and Uruguayand adds genes and brain size to the mystery of perfect sleep.
It is clear that before talking about perfect sleep, we must remember the benefits of sleep. Good sleep is essential for prevent metabolic and cardiovascular disease and even some types of cancer. In addition, it is very useful to keep the mind in shape. While we sleep, we help to consolidate memories, so this is very useful for memory and cognitive health.
For this reason, these scientists wanted to find out if people are genetically predisposed to taking naps. better brain health. Indeed, they found a very interesting positive relationship. Sleeping all day, of course, is not worth it. Perfect sleep lasts less than half an houralthough waking up so quickly makes us too lazy.
genes matter too
If we ask in Spain about the genes of those who sleep during the siesta, we may be told that you must have Andalusian roots, but this is something much more complicated.
The authors of this study analyzed the role of DNA in propensity to sleep by examining data 378,932 people aged 40 to 69. All underwent brain scans, genetic analysis and a survey about their sleep habits. Thus, it was found that there are 92 DNA regions associated with people who reported regular daytime sleep. But not only this signal was found in his DNA. It was also noticed that most of them had a larger brain volume than humans. 2.5 to 6.5 years younger.
It follows that regular daytime sleep improves one of the parameters associated with brain age. So while it needs further study, it may help reduce dementia.
How is the perfect dream?
As a rule, people with a genetic tendency to sleep during the day do this for a short time. This study did not look at ideal sleep length; but others have previously discovered that in order to squeeze the benefits out of it, it is ideal for it to be less than half an hour. If not, then the opposite can also happen, so it would be counterproductive.
Interestingly, regular perfect sleep is also in the genes. Of course, there are people who never sleep because they don’t need to. Others do, but spend too much time sleeping and end up feeling more tired than before. However, some people seem to be programmed to let their brains rest and merge memories every day for a short period of time. It’s perfect and now at least we know what’s causing it and why it’s useful.
It may help other people get these benefits as well, although you should first try to replicate the study while avoiding it. restrictions. Basically it’s two. On the one hand, data on daytime sleep were self-report. That is, the participants themselves explained when and how much they slept. However, this is only a minor limitation, as wrist devices were used that were able to analyze physical activity and thus correlate information.
As for the second limitation, it concerns Population who participated in the study. All were of white European descent. Therefore, it does not take into account how sleep affects the brains of different populations. What is clear is that a perfect sleep of less than half an hour seems to have even more benefits than we thought. Also in the brain.
Source: Hiper Textual
