Eighteen years of research show that prolonged insomnia reduces concentration and learning ability

Numerous studies on sleep and health have been conducted so far, such as 'If sleep deprivation continues, concentration decreases ' and ' Reducing sleep time by 1 hour activates genes related to cancer and diabetes '. It has become clear. A new study by the University of Helsinki found that 'prolonged symptoms of insomnia reduce learning and concentration.'

Trajectories of Insomnia Symptoms Among Aging Employees and Their Associations With Memory, Learning Ability, and Concentration After Retirement --A Prospective Cohort Study (2000–2017) --2022
https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643221078740

Insomnia in midlife may manifest as cognitive problems in retirement age | University of Helsinki
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/sleep/insomnia-midlife-may-manifest-cognitive-problems-retirement-age

There are many people who say, 'I'm absorbed in games and work in the middle of the night, and I just cut my sleep time.' However, in previous studies, the decrease in sleep time has 'positive emotions' in addition to the physical adverse effects such as 'increased stress hormone levels', 'current transition of the ability to convert glucose into energy', and 'decreased body temperature maintenance function'. It has been clarified that it causes psychological adverse effects such as 'difficulty in feeling' and 'decreased concentration'.

Don't underestimate sleep deprivation, this is the only negative effect of sleep deprivation-GIGAZINE

However, the above studies are the result of short-term studies, and few studies have long follow-ups of more than 10 years. Therefore, a research team at the University of Helsinki followed up the association between sleep and cognitive function in 3748 subjects for 18 years from 2000 to 2017.

As a result of the survey, the subjects who reached retirement age had 'the symptoms of insomnia worsened from before retirement to after retirement (black dashed line)', 'the symptoms of insomnia were always good', and 'the symptoms of insomnia from before retirement to after retirement'. It turned out that there are three types of insomnia patterns: 'improvement of symptoms (green dashed line)'. It was also found that the group with worsening insomnia had lower memory / learning / concentration scores than the group with good insomnia. On the other hand, it was also found that the group with improved symptoms had a higher score for each ability than the group with worsened symptoms.

Based on the research results, the research team concludes that 'long-term symptoms of insomnia' are risk factors for cognitive decline, and recommends early treatment of insomnia and improvement of sleep rhythm.