According to a recent study, problems with falling asleep in people over 51 years old, is an indication of brain health issues later on. To be more specific, these sleep problems cause poorer episodic memory, executive function, language, processing speed, and visuospatial performance 14 years later.

To come to this conclusion the study analyzed information of 2.496 adults on trouble falling asleep in 2002 and its relation to their state of cognition in 2016. Further investigation showed that the relation between sleep initiation and later brain health were partially explained by both depressive symptoms and vascular diseases for mentioned above cognitive processes except episodic memory, which was only partially explained by depression. Researchers suggested that trouble falling asleep could lead to less total sleep, dysfunction of the immune system and hormone regulation that worsen our mood, heart/blood vessels health and cognition.

These findings are worth being aware of. If you want to keep your brain sharp later in life, you need a.o. to pay a close attention to your sleep initiation and sleep quality. Whether improvement in falling asleep help prevent or slow down the decline of brain health later in life is still to be confirmed by science.

Curious? HERE is the source