POOR sleep causes memory to fail in older people, and improving the quality of sleep could restore recall as well, a new study suggests.
The research from the University of California, Berkeley, demonstrated a link between the ability to recall information, and the quality of nightly sleep, suggesting that if sleep could be improved, the effects of dementia might be reduced too.
While its exact purpose is unclear, sleep helps us consolidate memories, and it signals the brain's 'sewage system' to kick in and remove toxins in the body.
The research team are currently working on using electrical brain stimulation to give people a healthy sleep by restoring deep brain waves.
If successful, the team believe they might be able to restore the memory-forming abilities of older adults as well.
With five sleeps to Christmas, research suggests that having a real Christmas tree increases your risk of getting sick.
Several papers have found similar results, including a key 1970 publication by Dr Derek M. Wyse in the Canadian Medical Journal which reported that 6% of allergic people saw a spike in symptoms when they had a Christmas tree in their home.
The cause is linked to mould spores from Christmas trees, with an analysis of 28 tree clippings finding 70% of 53 mould species were harmful to humans.
Luckily for us, Christmas is in summer and not winter.
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