Short power naps during day help the brain as it ages: Study

Napping during daytime may be scoffed at by many people. But now, a study has said that a short daytime nap may even be beneficial as the brain ages. Researchers have found that the practice has been associated with large brain volume.

Some researchers say that napping for a long time may be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease. But other researchs have revealed that a short nap can improve people's ability to learn.

“In line with these studies, we found an association between habitual daytime napping and larger total brain volume, which could suggest that napping regularly provides some protection against neurodegeneration through compensating for poor sleep,” the researchers said as reported by The Guardian.

The researchers have published their study in the journal Sleep Health. The research team reportedly consisted of experts from University College London and the University of the Republic of Uruguay.

For the study, the researchers drew on data from UK Biobank study which has collated lifestyle, genetic and health information from 500,000 people aged 40 to 69.

Data from 35,080 Biobank participants was analysed by the researchers. Researchers looked for genetic variants which were previously associated with daytime napping. The researchers checked whether these were linked with brain volume, cognition and brain health.

“It is like a natural randomised control trial,” said Dr Victoria Garfield, a co-author of the study from University College London. She was quoted by The Guardian.

“They’re present in around at least 1% of the population, which is actually quite a lot of people.”

Fewer years of ageing

The team of researchers found that there was an association between genetic preference to daytime nap and larger brain volume. This was equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 fewer years of ageing. No relationship with cognitive performance was found.

“It could be having a short daytime nap … could help preserve brain volume and that’s a positive thing, potentially, [for] dementia prevention,” said Garfield. She reportedly added that a nap of duration of up to 30 minutes was found to be beneficial.

“This study is important because it adds to the data indicating sleep is important for brain health,” she said.

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