Category Archives: Brain Function

It can be hard to stay awake this time of year. Every day the sun sets a little earlier, and when it’s dark around 5 PM, it can make 6:30 feel like midnight. Your body is naturally equipped to shut down when it gets dark. It starts producing melatonin, so you get sleepy and crave ...click here to read more

For people over 50, poor sleep has been linked to more negative perceptions of aging, which can impact mental, physical, and cognitive health. A new study led by the University of Exeter found that middle-aged people who rated their sleep the worst also felt older and had a lower image of their own physical and ...click here to read more

Suppose you eat many fruits, vegetables, beans, and other foods with anti-inflammatory effects, good job. You’re giving yourself a good chance at warding off memory loss, dementia, and other forms of cognitive decline. However, eating a lot of golden-brown, sugary, starchy, or processed foods that promote inflammation can have the opposite effect. New research suggests ...click here to read more

The COVID-19 pandemic may go down as sitting’s golden age. Millions of people traded in commuting for a short trip between rooms. They also stopped going to the gym, community center, playing sports, and countless other activities. Impacts on physical health are relatively easy to understand: less movement can lead to weight gain, weaker muscles ...click here to read more

New research suggests that people who suffer from a sleep disorder have an increased risk for hospitalization and mortality caused by COVID-19. The study from Cleveland Clinic has found this relationship, noting that patients with sleep-disordered breathing and sleep-related hypoxia (sleep apnea) do not have an increased risk of developing COVID-19. Still, they do seem ...click here to read more

You’re likely aware of the strong connection between sleep and heart health. There is plenty of research to indicate how sleep duration and quality can impact your heart. But a new finding has entered the mix: the time you fall asleep might also play a factor. A new study has found that there might be ...click here to read more

Almost everyone has heard the saying “sitting is the new smoking,” but a new study shows its impact on depression and anxiety. With so many people self-isolating during the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak, more people found themselves sitting for longer periods than ever before. Zoom meetings erased time spent walking to meeting rooms, ...click here to read more

According to a new study published in the European Heart Journal – Digital Health, going to sleep between 10:00 and 11:00 PM is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease than earlier or later bedtimes. Previous research has investigated a link between sleep duration and cardiovascular disease, but this is one of the ...click here to read more

Research from Italy has found a possible link between depression and anxiety in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and the vascular barrier in the brain. The study published in the journal Science describes the gut-brain axis response to inflammation and its relationship to psychiatric illness. While previous research has shown that people with inflammatory bowel ...click here to read more

Hearing loss in older adults may come with a cost. It could mean a higher risk for dementia. Hearing loss is a natural part of aging but ignoring it could cause much more harm than good. According to the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention and Care report, age-related hearing loss is the most significant modifiable ...click here to read more

If you’re prone to distraction and making mistakes, meditation may help you regain focus and boost accuracy. A new study looked at a form of meditation called open-monitoring meditation. It focuses on personal awareness of feelings, thoughts, and sensations as they’re happening in mind and body. Researchers from Michigan State University found that this form ...click here to read more

Not getting enough sleep on a regular basis may be associated with a wide variety of health problems, including heart disease. A new study published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology has found that healthy adults who get less than seven hours of sleep a night showed abnormal heart rate patterns. According ...click here to read more

As more studies are conducted, mounting evidence is showing a relationship between peripheral artery disease (PAD) and sleep. PAD is often caused by atherosclerosis, which is when there’s a buildup of fats and other debris from the bloodstream in the arteries. The symptoms of peripheral artery disease (PAD) can range from mild to severe. Some ...click here to read more

Obstructive sleep apnea can play a significant role in a person’s life. Aside from robbing sleep and leading to fatigue, grogginess, and a cloudy brain, it can influence heart and brain health. It’s caused by a lack of oxygen during sleep that leads to “micro-awakenings” every night. Sufferers don’t always realize that they are being ...click here to read more