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> “Although the study found inadequate sleep duration was not an issue in brain atrophy in this study, we cannot say there is no association,” she said, noting
by orbifold 2y ago
> “Although the study found inadequate sleep duration was not an issue in brain atrophy in this study, we cannot say there is no association,” she said, noting that a previous CARDIA study showed that shorter sleep was associated with worse white matter integrity, indicating lower cognitive functioning.
That quote seems to directly contradict the headline.
- askafriend 2y agoThe science publication complex is incredibly problematic.
- threatofrain 2y agoThe subtitle is UCSF-led study finds that insomnia, but not lack of sleep, may hasten brain shrinkage.
- dang 2y agoYes. Let's use that above.
- macrael 2y agoFrom the public results only[1] (I don't have a copy of the whole study) they studied the following things looking for correlation with brain decline: * short sleep duration * sleep quality * difficulty initiating sleep (DIS) * difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS) * early morning awakening (EMA) * daytime sleepiness They only found that the middle four were correlated. I don't know what exactly "sleep quality" is but the others are pretty easy to understand. And the point is that the duration of a person's sleep is not what mattered, it was the quality. [1]: https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209988 https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209988
- digging 2y agoSleep quality, if excluding DIS, DMS, EMA, usually will refer to things like apneas, nasal congestion, digestion, noise or light in the room, etc. Disturbances that don't wake the person but do tax the brain.
- derefr 2y agoI would describe low sleep quality as "difficulty entering or maintaining the restorative phases of sleep." It's the thing a sleep clinic measures with an EEG.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- timr 2y agoAlso, worth saying: these things were based on self-reported data, which is basically crap. >To estimate the effects of sleep quality on the brain, the researchers surveyed approximately 600 adults on how well they slept. The participants were asked the same questions five years later and underwent brain scans 10 years after this. This is press-release science. Maybe the latter three things you can remember, but I have sensors and whatnot in a fancypants mattress (i.e. I'm highly motivated to know), and my subjective opinion of my prior night's sleep is pretty uncorrelated with what they say. I couldn't begin to tell you the quality of my sleep from a week ago.
- fsckboy 2y agoself-reported data is basically crap as it regards actual sleep patterns, but it could (hypothetically) be a rock solid predictor of brain shrinkage
- timr 2y agoYou can't just take crap data and compare it to a hard outcome and claim victory if you find a correlation. Crap data is crap, no matter what you compare it to.
- fsckboy 2y agoyou're wrong. The only evidence we have for gravity is the correlation of mass and attraction. The theory of gravity does not contain any hint of a reason why, it simply points out what we can observe. Correlation is the only evidence we have. And you have not ruled out that complaining about sleep in various ways isn't a direct side effect of brain shrinkage so the hypothesis remains open.
- m3kw9 2y agoI like how scientists use words like less and more as if we know what reference points they are thinking