Sleep may strengthen your memory
Sleep consolidates your memories, scientists believe. “Sleep is making memories stronger,” says Jessica Payne from the University of Notre Dame in the US, in reference to a study she co-wrote late last year. “It also seems to be doing something which I think is so much more interesting, and that is reorganising and restructuring memories.”
The amount of sleep you get may have a profound effect on your cognitive abilities, she says—so do your utmost to clock eight hours a night. “People who say they’ll sleep when they’re dead are sacrificing their ability to have good thoughts now.”
Sleep might make you more attractive
Don’t knock the term ‘beauty sleep’—it really exists. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal in late 2010, getting a poor night’s sleep may show up on your face. Twenty-three sleep-deprived adults aged between 18 and 31 were photographed and observed by 65 subjects. Those who had been low on zzzz’s were rated as less healthy, more tired and less attractive. Ouch!
A poor night’s kip may impact adolescents’ weight
A study in the April 2010 issue Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health suggested that overweight adolescents sleep less than their healthy-weight counterparts—mostly on non-school days, however. The findings suggest that sleep duration affects weight and contributes to obesity.
Testosterone levels in men may influence sleep quality
At a sleep research conference held in France in May 2010, Zoran Sekerovic from the University of Montreal presented findings that revealed low testosterone levels in men (over 50) decreases their quality of sleep—specifically slumber phases three and four.
Though the problem can potentially be treated with hormone therapy, this line of research is still in its infancy.
Sleep-better strategies
… from Dr Anthony Grant and Alison Leigh, authors of Eight Steps to Happiness:
References are available on request