Skimping on Sleep Linked to Faster Brain Aging

Folks who get less than seven hours a night have accelerated aging in the brain, according to a study published this week in the journal Sleep. Their cognitive function is on par with someone who's three to seven years older. Surprisingly, getting too much sleep -- more than nine hours a night -- also appears to be linked to speeding the brain's aging process.

European researchers tracked the sleep of more than 5,000 middle-aged folks for five years and found that those who shifted away from regularly sleeping seven to eight hours a night -- to either less sleep or more -- had a faster decline in memory, reasoning skills, and vocabulary than those who maintained good sleep habits.

Full Article at Boston Globe Online

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