The researchers discovered that our brains do not respond to daily life in immediate, isolated bursts, but instead evolve in response to our lifestyle over time. This suggests that a disturbed night’s sleep over the past week can affect your attention, cognition and memory into the following week, they said.
As part of the long-term study, scientists tracked a person’s brain and behavior for five months using scans and data from wearable devices and smartphones.
They found that things like concentration were affected by lack of sleep, but this lasted for less than a week. However, areas associated with attention and memory can be affected for up to 15 days by past behavior.
The analysis revealed that exercise had a lasting positive effect on the way brain regions interact, meaning it could enhance memory and cognition for up to two weeks.
Even very subtle shifts in mood and heart rate leave imprints that last for up to 15 days, the team said.
The study, published in the journal Plos Biology, was conducted by researchers from Aalto University and the University of Oulu, both in Finland.
“Every day, we wake up as slightly different people, with our mental states influenced by many external factors,” the team wrote. The quality of sleep, the level of physical activity, and the nature of our social interactions affect the state of our brains at different periods of time. These time periods range from milliseconds to seconds, minutes and days. “Our results indicate that behavioral, physiological and lifestyle factors are associated with brain connectivity across different time periods, whether in the short term, as little as seven days, or in the longer term, up to two weeks.”
The researchers added: “Our results demonstrate that we should not study brain connectivity in isolation from environmental dynamics, lifestyle changes, and short-term fluctuations such as transient diseases or disturbed sleep.” “These findings reflect a prolonged and sustained relationship between external factors and neural processes.”
The team said their research is unusual because few brain studies involve detailed monitoring over days and weeks.
Research leader Anna Triana said: “Our behavior and mental states are constantly shaped by our environment and experiences. However, we know little about the response of brain functional connectivity to environmental, physiological and behavioral changes over different time scales, from days to months. We must bring data from everyday life into the laboratory to see the full picture of how our habits shape the brain. “Linking brain activity to physiological and environmental data could revolutionize personalized healthcare, opening doors for earlier interventions and better outcomes.”
Source: Daily Mail
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