If you're one of the many Americans who doesn't get enough sleep, you might want to cover your ears during this report. A new study suggests that a lack of sleep for older people makes their brains age faster.
Researchers at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore conducted the study.
They tested 66-elderly chinese adults -- measuring brain volume through MRI scans every two years as well as recording how long they slept each night.
They found that the less each adult slept every night, the faster their brains aged.
Past studies have looked at cognitive decline as it relates to lack of sleep -- but the researchers say this is just one more indication that a lack of sleep has a real impact on how our brains work.
The researchers say the sweet spot for sleep in adults is really right around seven hours per night.
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