Dreamstime

By Lynne C. Allison From Newsmax

Scientists at Imperial College London found that people who stay up late score better on tests that measure intelligence, reasoning, reaction time and memory. This new finding contrasts previous research that links being a night owl to increased risk for diabetes, heart disease and mental health issues.

According to The Guardian, the researchers studied more than 26,000 men and women. They examined how their duration of sleep, quality of sleep and chronotype (which determines the time of day an individual performs best mentally), affects brain performance.Change How Your Brain Ages in a Matter of Days! Learn More

The results showed that people who stayed up later at night or moderately late scored higher in cognitive performance than those who went to bed early. In addition, people who went to bed later were more likely to be creative types, like artists or musicians, according to the study. However, sleep duration was very important for brain function and researchers found that individuals who enjoyed seven to nine hours of sleep each night were the best performers on cognitive tests. 

“We found that sleep duration has a direct effect on brain function, and we believe that proactively managing sleep patterns is really important for boosting, and safeguarding, the way our brains work,” said the study authors.

Critics caution that the results may be skewed since the research didn’t take into account the level of education of the study subjects or the time of day in which the tests were conducted. However, the results clearly challenge the old proverb “early to bed, early to rise, make a man, healthy, wealthy and wise.”Top Memory Doctor Shares His Brain-Boosting Secrets! Learn More

“Without a detailed picture of what’s going on in the brain, we don’t know if being a ‘morning’ person or an ‘evening’ person affects memory and thinking,” said Jacqui Hanley, head of research funding at Alzheimer’s Research UK. “It’s difficult to study people’s sleeping patterns over a long period of time as part of a clinical trial. Researchers are relying on people self-reporting their sleeping habits and this can lead to errors as people tend to over or underestimate how well they slept,” she added, according to Science Media Centre.

Lynn C. Allison ✉

Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.

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