2023-09-23 15:33:00
(CNN) — With modern life so full of activities and stimuli, it is difficult to disconnect and relax completely. But that is something our brain needs to repair and restore itself.
The only (almost) safe place our brain can go to relax is sleep. That is why it is essential to get enough sleep.
“What happens in the brain when we sleep, in simple terms, is essentially that it has the opportunity to not be consciously engaged in task switching throughout the day,” said Victoria Garfield, senior researcher at the Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging and professor at University College London, to CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
“As a result, our cognitive function will improve. And you will feel better the next day because our brain cells had a chance to rest, regenerate and replenish,” he said.
Garfield has been studying sleep for a decade. “One of my main interests over the last 10 years has been understanding why we need adequate sleep, why sleep is so important for the brain and the body, especially as we age,” he said.
Decades of evidence support the idea that sleeping too little or too much is associated with an increased risk of conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, having a heart attack, dementia, being diagnosed with sleep apnea, anxiety and depression, he added.
Garfield’s team recently found that regular daytime naps are associated with greater total brain volume. The study, published in the journal Sleep Health in June, analyzed data, including MRI scans, from more than 35,000 adults in the UK Biobank.
How much bigger? According to Garfield, regarding 15 cubic centimeters, which his team calculated is equivalent to between 2.5 and 6.5 years of aging. “It’s a very important thing in terms of brain age. And we think that’s really important because lower total brain volume is linked to certain diseases, earlier mortality and higher levels of stress,” he said.
What can you do to make sure your brain is well rested? Garfield has five pieces of advice.
Sleep enough
I apologize to those who think they can get by with 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night, but the truth is that you need to spend a lot more time face to face with your pillow: ideally between 7 and 9 hours a night for adults, depending on age, explains Garfield.
“It’s not something people usually think regarding, and they’re quite surprised when I say, ‘Well, if you don’t sleep well, it’s going to bring on all these unpleasant things,'” he explains.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on diet, being at a healthy weight, exercising, not having diabetes, and all these things,” he explains. “People say, ‘Oh yeah, but I can sleep 4 hours a night and I’m fine,’ and they don’t understand that actually the cumulative effects over time are really not good.”
Establish a consistent sleep schedule
Go to bed and get up at the same time seven days a week, even if it’s hard, says Garfield. This is important because it prepares you to sleep those 7 to 9 hours necessary. “Many of us don’t.”
Settle in for a short nap
There’s no shame in taking a nap. “For us, the most obvious thing is to take a nap,” says Garfield. “Maybe even 30 minutes, because we know that’s pretty beneficial for the brain. So we literally took a break and tried to fall asleep for a while.”
Although his team found a positive effect on the brain associated with short daytime naps, other studies have found that napping is associated with negative outcomes, such as an increased risk of high blood pressure and stroke, and being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
do some exercise
Sleeping and napping aren’t the only ways to give your brain a break. Moving is also important.
“There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that getting outside and taking a walk is really beneficial, especially getting off your devices and getting in touch with nature,” says Garfield.
But exercise doesn’t have to be a walk in nature. The key is to disconnect from work and other activities that require a lot of attention.
Do something that doesn’t make you think
“I think recommending things like meditation and mindfulness is very obvious. But actually, a lot of people find it very difficult, myself included,” Garfield says, noting that she can’t just turn off her brain.
Garfield recommends other activities that require less brain energy: Watching television (but nothing work-related, Garfield emphasizes) or even shopping. (Just don’t use electronic devices an hour before going to bed at night.
“It’s very important, once more, to emphasize that these things are really individual, and depend on each person,” he said.
CNN Audio’s Madeleine Thompson contributed to this report.
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