Contents:
- Medical Video: How to Wake Up Early - And Not be Miserable
- Elderly people are easier to forget when they wake up
- Why is that?
- Can it be prevented?
Medical Video: How to Wake Up Early - And Not be Miserable
Not new news anymore if the elderly in general are more susceptible to senility. The reason, brain function will decrease with age. However, a study found that elderly people especially easier to forget when they wake up. How come?
Elderly people are easier to forget when they wake up
The above statement was made by a group of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) after observing brain scans and sleep patterns from two different groups of participants: one group was 20 young adults, while the other group was 32 elderlywho are 60-70 years old.
Before going to bed, the researchers asked the two groups to memorize 120 pairs of words, and they observed the activity of electric waves of participants' brains during sleep using electrodes. Normally, brain wave activity consists of slow waves that occur every second and fast waves (spindles) that occur around 12 times per second. Both of these brain waves occur at the stage of non-REM sleep, the transition from "chicken sleep" to deep sleep to dreaming.
The next morning, the participants were asked to recite the words that had been memorized overnight. The elderly group succeeded in remembering far fewer words than young adults. The results of this study are published in the journal Neuron.
Why is that?
Normally, sleep helps the brain to rearrange the information we get for one full day and then store it in memory. This process is referred to as consolidation, aka memory strengthening.
Researchers found that the natural aging process interferes with "encounters" between slow waves and fast waves. In fact, these two waves must be able to meet at the right moment to strengthen new memories during sleep.
Supposedly, slow waves will occur first then followed by fast waves. However, the time span between these two waves is actually very short, only one tenth of a second.
As aging, the brain can no longer coordinate the meeting time between these two brain waves accurately. When these two brain waves cannot meet, the brain cannot strengthen the new memories that enter right before going to bed. As a result, the elderly quickly forget when they wake up - instead of remembering.
Researchers later also revealed that the brain's inability to coordinate the time of wave encounters in sleep can be caused by brain shrinkage (brain atrophy) especially in the area of the medial frontal cortex, which is known to produce deep sleep.
The effect of lack of deep sleep itself has long been associated with a decrease in brain cognitive function. Misty thoughts when you wake up make it difficult for you to concentrate, focus, and make decisions.
Can it be prevented?
Researchers believe that letting the elderly get enough sleep can help alleviate this effect. We recommend that you set a regular bedtime for the elderly every day. That way, your body will be trained to sleep and wake up at the right time. In order to be fast asleep, try to turn off the cellphone, television, and other electronic devices when you are in bed.
In addition, avoid consuming caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, and carbonated drinks about six hours before going to bed. Then, try to make your body and mind relax before going to bed with relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing or meditation techniques.
