Give your brain a boost with a power nap

Naps are not just for babies and toddlers – adults benefit too with better brain power. Some of the most admired and esteemed people in the world were nappers – Winston Churchhill, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Napoleon, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and George W. Bush were all known to take a siesta in the middle of the afternoon.

An hour or so nap in the afternoon may be just what the doctor should order, particularly for older adults according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Led by Junxin Li of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, researchers asked almost 3,000 adult participants aged 65 and older, about their nighttime sleep habits and if they took a nap or not in the afternoon. The purpose of the study was to see if that extra dose of rest during the day had an effect on their brain function.

To assess the power of if an afternoon nap produced better brain ability, each participant underwent several mental status tests, from answering simple questions, completing basic math problems, memorizing and recalling words, and copying drawings of simple geometric objects.

Out of the total participants, up to 60 percent regularly napped after lunch with the duration ranging from 30 to more than 90 minutes with the average being around one hour.

Results from the study found that napping did indeed make a difference. Those who napped for an hour after lunch did better on the brain functions tests than those who didn’t nap at all. The ideal length of time to nap appears to be for 60 minutes as those participants outperformed the people who slept for less than an hour or more than an hour.

There was a six times greater decline in mental abilities in any of the study participants who either didn’t nap at all, took short naps or very long naps.

It was pointed out by the researchers that the study found an association between an hour-long nap in the afternoon and better mental abilities but it does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Why napping may be beneficial as we age may have to do with the fact that after the age of 60, we have less deep (slow-wave) sleep and more rapid sleep cycles. This means we wake up more often during the night sleeping about two hours less than we did as young adults. Regardless of age, we still need about seven-and-a-half to eight hours of sleep to function at our best.

Another smaller study also found that participants, whether they took long or short naps, showed significant improvement on three of four tests in the study’s cognitive-assessment.

So, if taking an afternoon nap is not currently part of your daily activities, you may need to schedule it in – it appears your brain function depends on it.

Try these napping tips

To get the most out of a power snooze, follow these quick tips:

· Be consistent – Keep a regular nap schedule. Prime napping time falls in the middle of the day, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

· Make it quick – Set your cell phone alarm for 30 minutes or less if you don’t want to wake up groggy.

· Go dark – Nap in a dark room or wear an eye mask. Blocking out light helps you fall asleep faster.

· Stay warm – Stash a blanket nearby to put over you because your body temperature drops while out sleep.