Frankly, we are not all equal when it comes to sleep. When some are struggling to face their day after 9 hours of night, others are in great shape with only 6 hours on the clock. It’s unfair, but it’s also explicable, via genetic data. In addition to being an asset in everyday life, needing little sleep is linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s. Explanations according to a study published on the iScience website.
The fact of needing little sleep is linked to genetic mutations (concerning 6 genes) and has a name, the FNSS or family natural short sleep. Those who are equipped with it therefore do not meet sleep recommendations to keep the brain and health in good shape (between 7 and 8 hours a night). Moreover, Santé Publique France reminds us: “Sleep has always been recognized by all as an essential factor in psychological balance and physical and mental recovery, whatever our age, our environment, our state of health. .”
Where a person who does not have these genes could be in danger of developing pathologies by sleeping less than the estimated time, they escape the rule by doing very wellhence the name given to them by scientists from “elite sleepers“.
Gene mutations linked to sleep and favorable to degenerative diseases
This could be explained in particular by the fact that their brains are able to obtain the same benefits, but faster, as if they had a more efficient, more profitable sleep than the others. By studying mice with the FNSS, the researchers noticed that pathologies linked to the tau protein (dementia) developed more slowly in them than in others. Ditto on the side of amyloid plaques, characteristic of Alzheimer’s.
The researchers were particularly interested in two genetic mutations involved in the FNSS, which could also be beneficial against neurodegenerative diseases, slow their progression. That said, for now, this observation has only been made in mice.
Source: Familial natural short sleep mutations reduce Alzheimer pathology in mice, iScience, March 15, 2022.
Read also:
- Why do we sleep less well as we age?
- Do you feel tired when you wake up (even after a good night’s sleep)? Here are 3 reasons according to a specialist
