Maximizing your brain fitness

Sleep well

Sleep is divided in two stages as the deep non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and lighter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep when dreams occur. Evidence suggest that, every night during the deep NREM phase of sleep, the cerebrospinal fluid clears the brain of unwanted protein aggregates that are toxic to the brain [1,2]. Increasing studies show that poor sleep or occupational chronic sleep deprivation in mid-life poses a significant risk for cognitive decline later on [3,4].

Maintain a regular sleep schedule and try improve sleep by exercising, being exposed to bright light in the morning and having regular eating patterns during the day, including not eating late in the evening. If you think you may have or be at risk of having sleep apnea, get tested and make sure you follow appropriate advice to prevent this if diagnosed. There is some evidence that taking medications to aid sleeping may increase dementia risk [5]. Instead it is recommended that one first tries to improve sleeping using natural approaches such as preventing noise disturbance, limiting caffeine intake, using blackout curtains and avoiding the use of electronic devices in the late evening.

[1]       Shokri-Kojori E, Wang G-J, Wiers CE, Demiral SB, Guo M, Kim SW, et al. β-Amyloid accumulation in the human brain after one night of sleep deprivation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2018;115:4483.

[2]       Ju Y-ES, Ooms SJ, Sutphen C, Macauley SL, Zangrilli MA, Jerome G, et al. Slow wave sleep disruption increases cerebrospinal fluid amyloid-β levels. Brain 2017;140:2104–11.

[3]       Lucey BP, McCullough A, Landsness EC, Toedebusch CD, McLeland JS, Zaza AM, et al. Reduced non–rapid eye movement sleep is associated with tau pathology in early Alzheimer’s disease. Science Translational Medicine 2019;11.

[4]       Almondes KM de, Costa MV, Malloy-Diniz LF, Diniz BS. Insomnia and risk of dementia in older adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research 2016;77:109–15.

[5] Pariente A, de Gage SB, Moore N, Bégaud B. The Benzodiazepine–Dementia Disorders Link: Current State of Knowledge. CNS Drugs 2016;30:1–7.