It has long been known that a short afternoon nap – usually referred to as a power nap – can help you feel more rested. At the same time, however, a growing body of research suggests that a short afternoon nap can benefit your health in other ways too.
In particular, a small study from China published online on 25 January 2021 by the journal General Psychiatry suggests that frequent and short afternoon naps – lasting between five minutes and two hours – may be beneficial for your memory and thinking skills.
The study
Specifically, the researchers put more than 2,200 older adults through a series of health tests that included blood tests as well as cognitive assessments. In addition, they asked participants if and how often they took power naps. About 1,500 of the participants responded that they regularly took short afternoon naps.
The findings of the study
Compared to people who did not take regular power naps, the nappers who participated in this study performed better on cognitive tests and scored better on location awareness, verbal fluency and memory. Of course, it is worth noting that, as the study was observational, it cannot actually prove that sleep is the cause of higher scores on cognitive tests.
That said, we should add that previous studies have shown that the benefits of afternoon sleep decrease as age and sleep duration increase. However, short and frequent naps – less than 30 minutes, four times a week – have been researched to be associated with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. In contrast, people who sleep more hours – that means two hours or more – seem to have more vulnerable cognitive function.
However, it is not yet clear what is the cause and what is the result. In other words, is it the long and long sleep that is responsible for the deterioration of cognitive functions, or is it the loss in cognitive functions that creates the need for longer and longer sleep?
