Insufficient sleep can make you feel older—study
Getting enough rest can make you feel younger, a new study finds.
Sleep researchers at Stockholm University have discovered that having sufficient and insufficient sleep could influence how youthful or old a person feels.
The two-phased study first saw 249 participants from ages 18 to 70 years old assess their subjective age by answering the question: “On some days you may feel older or younger than your calendar age. What age do you feel right now?”
They were then given questionnaires inquiring about their sleep quality.
This first phase revealed that a person's subjective age increased by 0.23 years for each additional day of insufficient sleep, meaning they felt older than their actual age.
On the other hand, participants who said they got enough sleep came out as feeling on average 5.81 years younger than their calendar age.
In their second study, joined by 186 individuals from ages 18 to 16, researchers had participants do sleep restriction and saturation for seven days.
Under sleep restriction, the participants could only sleep for four hours every night for the two nights, meanwhile, nine hours of sleep were granted during the two nights of sleep saturation.
Results showed that participants felt on average 4.44 years older after sleep restriction and 0.24 years younger after sleep saturation. Those that felt four years younger also felt extremely alert while those feeling six years older than their actual also exhibited extreme sleepiness.
"Given that sleep is essential for brain function and overall well-being, we decided to test whether sleep holds any secrets to preserving a youthful sense of age," researcher Leonie Balter said as per Neuroscience News.
"Safeguarding our sleep is crucial for maintaining a youthful feeling. This, in turn, may promote a more active lifestyle and encourage behaviors that promote health, as both feeling young and alert are important for our motivation to be active," Balter added.