In Case You Haven't Heard…

Not spending enough time in the two deep stages of sleep — slow‐wave and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep — may hasten the deterioration of parts of the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease, a new study found, CNN Health has reported. Deficits in slow‐wave and REM sleep appear to shrink parts of the brain known to be early indicators of cognitive deterioration and Alzheimer's disease, said lead study author Gawon Cho, a postdoctoral associate in internal medicine at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. “We found the volume of a part of the brain called the inferior parietal region shrunk in people with inadequate slow and REM sleep,” Cho said. “That part of the brain synthesizes sensory information, including visuospatial information, so it makes sense that it shows neurodegeneration early in the disease.” Experts say most adults should spend between 20% and 25% of their night in deep sleep, and the same goes for REM sleep. Older adults require less, while babies need much more — in fact, infants can spend about 50% of their sleep in REM.