This week in sleep news…
Shift work may lead to having sleep disorders
Shift work may lead to a higher chance of having a sleep disorder, according to a new study released in Frontiers in Psychiatry. This study looked at response to questionnaires from 37,000 respondents who were screened for six common categories of sleep disorders: insomnia, excessive sleeping (hypersomnia), sleepwalking (parasomnia), sleep-related breathing disorders, sleep-related movement disorders, and sleep-wake disorders related to circadian rhythm. Across all the participants, about a third had one sleep disorder, while 13% had two or more.
Compared to day workers, night workers were more likely to report short sleep, with 50% of night workers reporting less than six hours of sleep. Furthermore, all sleep disorders as well as sleep disorder comorbidity were more common in shift workers, again most pronounced in night workers.
Light therapy shows promise in treating Alzheimer’s sleep and mood issues
Researchers have long known how good morning sunlight is for our sleep, but a meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials of nearly 600 people with Alzheimer’s disease found that light therapy greatly improved sleep quality and psycho-behavioral symptoms. The analysis found that not only did light therapy improve sleep efficiency and interdaily stability for patients, it lessened depression and feelings of agitation, and alleviated caregiver burden.
Sleep can improve memory retention but can also imprint false memories
New research shows that sleeping after studying can help you consolidate your memory. However, it may also lead to false memories. In this new study, 488 volunteers studied a list of words, then were asked to recall those words 12 hours later. Some participants were allowed to sleep during that 12-hour break, while others were not.
The results showed that those who were allowed to sleep during the 12-hour wait period scored better on memory retention, but were more likely to misremember that some related words were on the list. The findings indicate that sleep benefits the sense of things, instead of perfect recall.
In social media news …
Santa isn’t the only one who knows when you are sleeping: TikTok user @AngelWingsWalter shared a hilarious video of kitty Walter moving Christmas decorations while the humans slept.
Do you let your dog sleep in your bed? Glove Cities Vet Hospital has gone viral with its TikTok video answering the question.
