Study reveals ‘night owls’ are brighter than those up with the crows
Early nights are often considered vital for anyone who wants to be on top form the next day.
But a study suggests that night owls could actually be sharper than morning people – after participants who are more alert in the evenings appeared to perform better at cognitive tests.
Researchers at Imperial College London examined data on 27,000 people to examine links between sleep duration, quality and ‘chronotypes’, or sleep patterns.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Those who got between seven and nine hours’ sleep seemed to perform best in the UK Biobank study tests, according to research published in the journal BMJ Public Health. Academics also found night owls and those classed as ‘intermediate’ – neither night owls nor early birds – had ‘superior cognitive function’.
Being female, older and having angina, high blood pressure and diabetes all seemed to ‘worsen cognitive performance’.
The study’s lead author Dr Raha West, from the college, said: ‘’Our study found adults naturally more active in the evening – what we called ‘eveningness’ – tended to perform better on cognitive tests than ... ‘morning people’.’’
