Teenagers who go to bed earlier and enjoy longer, uninterrupted sleep have greater brain function and tend to perform better in tests, a study suggests.
In a study involving over 3,000 adolescents, those with earlier bedtimes, extended sleep durations, and lower resting heart rates during sleep consistently scored higher on tests. The kids were measured on their vocabulary, reading comprehension, and problem-solving skills.
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While a good night’s sleep was important, “surprisingly little” was known about sleep in adolescence, said Professor Barbara Sahakian of the University of Cambridge.
Professor Sahakian said that even with 15 minutes of extra sleep, “We could still see differences in brain structure and activity and in how well they did at tasks.” “We think that it’s the sleep driving the better cognitive abilities, in part because we consolidate our memories during sleep,” she added.
Researchers tracked the sleep of 3,222 children aged between 11 and 12 using FitBit devices. They compared the data with two separate groups of 13-to-14-year-olds, totalling 1,190 participants. Based on their sleep durations, the children were classified into three categories: the first group averaged 7 hours and 10 minutes of sleep per night, the second 7 hours and 21 minutes, and the third 7 hours and 25 minutes.
The team found that those in Group 3 scored highest on cognitive tests; they had the largest brain volumes, the best brain functions, and the lowest heart rates.
First author Dr Qing Ma from Fudan University said, “Although our study can’t answer conclusively whether young people have better brain function and perform better at tests because they sleep better, there are several studies that would support this idea. For example, research has shown the benefits of sleep on memory, especially on memory consolidation, which is important for learning.”
