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It is often said that the early bird catches the worm. A popular saying that is contradicted by a study published in the journal BMJ Public Health. It reveals that people who wake up at dawn are not as intellectually sharp as those who struggle to get out of bed in the morning.
A research team from Imperial College London came to this surprising conclusion after studying data from more than 26,000 people who took part in intelligence, reasoning and memory tests. The participants described themselves as early risers or night owls, depending on the time of day when they felt most alert and productive.
The researchers used all this information to determine how the duration, quality and habits of the volunteers’ sleep impacted their cognitive performance. They also took into account various factors related to general health and lifestyle, such as age, gender, tobacco and alcohol consumption, and the presence of chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, etc.).
It turned out that “night owls” scored 13.5% higher than early risers. So-called “intermediate” subjects, those who could be active in both the morning and evening, scored higher than morning people. However, they performed worse than night owls.It is important to note that this does not mean that all early risers have poorer cognitive performance. Our results reflect a general trend in which night owls have better cognitive performance.“, points out Dr. Raha West, lead author of the study, in a statement.
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Sleep is as important for early risers as it is for night owls
Overall, Dr. West and his colleagues have found that sleep duration is important for brain function. Getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night improves reasoning and memory skills, as well as information processing speed. Conversely, sleeping less than 7 hours or more than 9 hours has a deleterious effect on cognitive performance.It is important to remember that you need to get enough sleep, not too much and not too little. This is essential for your brain to stay healthy and function optimally.“, explains Dr. West in the same press release.
This study adds to a growing body of scientific work that shows that we are not all equal when it comes to the clock. We do not all reach our peak performance at the same time of day, some being more alert in the morning than in the evening, and vice versa. Differences linked to the internal clock, this molecular gear that synchronizes our body to a 24-hour rhythm. But chronotype (being a morning person or an evening person) is not everything. Sleep considerably influences our cognitive functions, given that it allows the body to recover on a physical and psychological level.
To keep our brain healthy, it is therefore better to be vigilant about the quality of our sleep. And above all, respect our biological rhythm. A night owl will not be at the top of their game in the morning, unlike an early riser. But they will be much more efficient in the late afternoon, while at that time, morning subjects will suffer more from the impact of the sleep pressure accumulated during the day.