Poor quality sleep causes loss of memory and concentration

EMMA INNES dailymail.co.uk Sleeping badly could age you as much as five years, a study has revealed.  Just three or four years of broken sleep patterns are linked to a loss of memory and concentration, American researchers found. They say that poor quality sleep is increases the risk of of having impaired mental faculties by up to 50 per cent - equivalent to a five year increase in age. Study leader Dr Terri Blackwell, of the California Pacific Medical Centre Research Institute, in San Francisco, said: ‘It was the quality of sleep that predicted future cognitive decline in this study, not the quantity. ‘With the rate of cognitive impairment increasing and the high prevalence of sleep problems in the elderly, it is important to determine prospective associations with sleep and cognitive decline.’ The study, published in the journal Sleep, involved 2,820 men with an average age of 76 years. Each study participant had their sleep patterns monitored over five nights and then each was tested on functions which involved planning, decision making, error correction, trouble shooting and abstract thinking.