Here’s the sleep news for this week:
More sleep for kids
A new study found that elementary school kids who got less than nine hours of sleep a night show significant differences in some brain regions that are responsible for memory, intelligence, and well-being compared to those children who got the advised nine to 12 hours sleep.
The findings, which were published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, found that children who slept less than nine hours faced mental health issues as well as difficulty memory, problem solving, and decision making. Researchers hope that this study highlights the value of early sleep intervention to improve early adolescents' long-term developmental outcomes.
Waking up at night may help your memory
While waking up in the middle of the night may be a nuisance, there may be some benefits. A study has shown that nighttime wake ups were linked to memory consolidations, which help you recall the previous day’s events. The stress transmitter noradrenaline wakes up your brain many times a night, these are called microarousals. The more awake you are during your microarousals the better your memory boost would be.
Does that mean you should profit from wake-ups?
Memory-related benefits aside, being awakened, especially in a jarring way, isn't great for mental or physical health. But Wired Magazine looks into the phenomenon of interactive sleep streamers, who stream their sleep over TikTok or Twitch, and accept donations to be woken up by viewers via zaps, noises, or flashing lights.
TikTok and Twitch Streamers Are Trading Sleep for Cash | WIRED
Sleep disorders may be early signs for dementia
New findings unveiled at the 2022 Alzheimer's Association International Conference showed that sleep disorders were associated with a 17% increased chance of dementia. The study, which was based in Denmark, looked at a 40-year stretch for everyone born between 1928 and 1953 nationwide. They found that risk increased particularly for men and in the first five years after a sleep-disorder diagnosis.
In sleep-centric social media…
TikTok user @lilbadrabbit shares their struggle with their new mattress causing them back pain … only to find out that it was upside down.
