HEALTH

Daytime naps may be good for our brains, study says

Jun 20, 2023, 2:53 PM

New research suggests that napping can help to maintain brain health. (Tara Moore/Digital Vision/Ge...

New research suggests that napping can help to maintain brain health. (Tara Moore/Digital Vision/Getty Images)

(Tara Moore/Digital Vision/Getty Images)

(CNN) —Taking daytime naps may help maintain brain health as we age, according to a new study. However, prior research has shown that excess napping can also be harmful.

Habitual napping was linked with larger total brain volume, which is associated with a lower risk of dementia and other diseases, according to researchers from University College London (UCL) and the University of the Republic of Uruguay.

On average, the difference in brain volume between nappers and non-nappers was equivalent to 2.5 to 6.5 years of aging, researchers said.

“Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older,” said senior author Victoria Garfield, a senior research fellow at UCL, in a statement.

While the study was “well-conducted,” limitations include the fact that napping habits were self-reported, said Tara Spires-Jones, president of the British Neuroscience Association and deputy director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the study.

The results show “a small but significant increase in brain volume in people who have a genetic signature associated with taking daytime naps,” she told the Science Media Centre.

“Even with those limitations, this study is interesting because it adds to the data indicating that sleep is important for brain health,” she said.

In response, lead study author Valentina Paz, a researcher at the University of the Republic of Uruguay and UCL, told CNN that she agreed “the work has some limitations,” but they’re “confident” in the method used in the study.

Statistical approach

In the study, published Monday in the journal Sleep Health, researchers used a technique called Mendelian randomization to analyze DNA samples and brain scans from 35,080 people aged 40 to 69 involved in the UK Biobank study, a large biomedical database and research resource that followed UK residents from 2006 to 2010.

Mendelian randomization is a statistical approach that uses genetics to provide information about the relationship between an exposure and outcome.

Researchers looked at sections of genetic code linked to people’s likelihood of regular napping and then compared brain health and cognition results between those with the napping genes and those without.

“By looking at genes set at birth, Mendelian randomisation avoids confounding factors occurring throughout life that may influence associations between napping and health outcomes,” said lead author Paz in the statement.

However, such a technique can only show an association between nap and brain health, not cause and effect. In addition, researchers did not have information on nap duration, which can impact whether sleep is helpful or harmful.

Paz told CNN that previous findings suggest that “taking a short nap (5 to 15 minutes) in the early afternoon may benefit those needing it.”

Napping can be harmful too

Meanwhile, previous research has shown that frequent napping or regularly napping for extended periods during the day may be a sign of early dementia in older adults.

Elderly adults who napped at least once a day or more than an hour a day were 40% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those who did not nap daily or napped less than an hour a day, according to a study published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, in March 2022.

And in July 2022, a study found that people who often nap have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure and having a stroke.

Study participants who typically napped during the day were 12% more likely to develop high blood pressure over time and were 24% more likely to have a stroke compared with people who never napped.

“This may be because, although taking a nap itself is not harmful, many people who take naps may do so because of poor sleep at night. Poor sleep at night is associated with poorer health, and naps are not enough to make up for that,” said clinical psychologist Michael Grandner in a statement at the time. Grandner directs the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, and was not involved in the study.

Excessive napping can be a sign of an underlying sleep disorder, sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, told CNN in a prior interview.

“Sleep disorders are linked to an increase in stress and weight regulation hormones which can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes – all risk factors for heart disease,” he said. “I do believe napping is a warning sign of an underlying sleep disorder in certain individuals.”


The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

KSL 5 TV Live

Health

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is seen, April 5, 2009, in Washington....

Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer

STD epidemic slows as new syphilis and gonorrhea cases fall in US

There's some good news about sexually-transmitted diseases in newly released U.S. health data.

3 hours ago

FILE - Utah Poison Control Center. (KSL TV)...

Jacob Freeman

Experts warn of carbon monoxide as temperatures drop

Experts are warning Utahns of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, which becomes much more prevalent over the winter.

3 days ago

Owen Jacobsen is a bright 12-year-old, actively involved in his school council, band, swim team, an...

Tamara Vaifanua

Looking Out for the Good: Laser surgery helps boy with seizures

Looking out for the good, one St. George boy's life was changed by Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital's best-in-the-nation neurosurgery program.

4 days ago

Sudafed and other common nasal decongestants containing pseudoephedrine are on display behind the c...

Jeffrey Kopp, CNN

FDA moves to pull popular decongestant from shelves amid effectiveness concerns

The US Food and Drug Administration announced a proposal to remove oral phenylephrine – a common ingredient in many popular over-the-counter decongestants – from the market, citing evidence that it doesn’t work.

5 days ago

FILE - A pharmacist holds a COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in New York, on Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Phot...

Associated Press

Don’t wait for a holiday surge. Now is a good time to get your flu and COVID-19 vaccines

If you missed the early fall push for flu and COVID-19 vaccines, it's not too late.

5 days ago

FILE: Turkeys roam the lawn of Nathan Hege. Wednesday, June 24, 2020. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret N...

Tammy Kikuchi, KSL NewsRadio

Could avian flu affect Thanksgiving in Utah?

After avian flu turned up in chickens and cows in Cache County, state officials are keeping a close watch on turkeys.

8 days ago

Sponsored Articles

abstract vector digital social network technology background...

Les Olson

Protecting yourself against social engineering attacks

Learn more about the common types of social engineering to protect your online or offline assets from an attack.

family having fun at home...

Lighting Design

Discover the impact of lighting on your mood

From color temperature to lighting saturation, we tackle how different lighting design setups can impact your day-to-day mood.

Laptops in a modern technology store. Department of computers in the electronics store. Choosing a ...

PC Laptops

How to choose the best laptop for college students

Finding the right laptop for college students can be hard, but with this guide we break down what to look for so you can find the best one.

young male technician is repairing a printer at office...

Les Olson

Unraveling the dilemma between leasing and buying office technology

Carefully weigh these pros and cons to make an informed decision that best suits your business growth and day-to-day operation. 

A kitchen in a modern farmhouse....

Lighting Design

A room-by-room lighting guide for your home

Bookmark this room-by-room lighting guide whenever you decide to upgrade your lighting or style a new home.

Photo courtesy of Artists of Ballet West...

Ballet West

The rising demand for ballet tickets: why they’re harder to get

Ballet West’s box office is experiencing demand they’ve never seen before, leaving many interested patrons unable to secure tickets they want.

Daytime naps may be good for our brains, study says