20 minutes exercise helps your brain function after insomnia

health

by mark laranilla

Feeling lightheaded after a night of tossing and turning?

There's plenty of company: More than 20% of American adults say they “rarely or never” wake up feeling well-rested, according to a recent survey by U.S. News & World Report.

And almost half (43%) of survey respondents said they experienced insomnia in 2023. If you're among them, New Yorkers, we're looking at you. There's a simple way to get through the day without nodding off to sleep. boss.

Just 20 minutes of moderate exercise, such as riding a bike or walking briskly, can improve cognitive performance regardless of your sleep state, according to new research.

“Existing research shows that exercise can improve or maintain cognitive performance even when oxygen levels are reduced,” study co-authors Dr. Joe Costello University of Portsmouth, UK stated in a news release.

“But this is the first study to suggest that it also improves CP.” [cognitive performance] after complete or partial sleep deprivation,” Costello added.

the study, Published in the magazine “Physiology and Behavior”, two experiments were conducted with 12 different participants each. The first looked at the effects of partial sleep deprivation on a person's cognitive performance, and the second looked at the effects of complete sleep deprivation and hypoxia (low oxygen levels).

In the first experiment, participants were allowed only five hours of sleep each night over three days. They were given seven mental tasks to perform each morning at rest and while cycling on a stationary recumbent bike.

In the second experiment, participants went one night without sleep and were then placed in a hypoxic environment in a university extreme environment laboratory. Despite lower oxygen levels, exercise still improved cognitive performance.

In both experiments, all participants experienced significant improvements in cognitive performance after cycling for 20 minutes.

The study found that the effects of three nights of partial sleep on cognitive function varied across participants. This is likely because some people are more resilient to moderate sleep deprivation.

However, regardless of sleep status, moderate-intensity exercise improved performance on all cognitive tasks.

“One potential hypothesis for why exercise improves cognitive performance is related to increased cerebral blood flow and oxygenation,” said co-first author Dr. thomas williams university Extreme environment research group.

“However, our findings suggest that even when exercising in environments with low oxygen levels, participants were able to perform cognitive tasks better than when resting in the same conditions.” Williams said.

Other experts have this advice for people who regularly struggle with sleep: “Stop worrying.”

Dr. Leena MehraThe director of sleep disorders research at the Cleveland Clinic said that consciously focusing on falling asleep can interfere with the process. “It works against the individual,” she told The Wall Street Journal.