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Community Corner

Study: Age Can Affect Sleep Patterns

Hermosa Beach residents talk to Patch about a UCLA study that shows the part of the human brain in control of sleep and wake cycles slows over time.

Waking up at bizarre hours of the night and struggling to fall asleep often sends people running to the store for sleep aids.

But a new UCLA study suggests that your age could be the biggest factor in screwing with your sleep schedule.

"Aging has a profound effect on circadian timing," said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences in a statement.

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A body’s circadian clock dictates how it physically and mentally operates within an about 24-hour cycle (based on light and darkness in the environment), according to the National Institute of Health.

"It is very clear that animals' circadian systems begin to deteriorate as they age, and humans have enormous problems with the quality of their sleep as they age, difficulty adjusting to time zone changes and difficulty performing shift work, as well as less alertness when awake,” Block said.

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As part of the study, which was released in July, scientists used young and older adult mice to analyze the brain and sleep patterns.

They found that while young mice were very active during the day and slept at night, the older mice, while still active during the day, saw an increase in activity at night when compared with their younger counterparts.

"In the middle-aged mice, they still have a circadian rhythm, but the amplitude is reduced," Block said in the study. "During the nighttime, when electrical impulse activity levels are usually fairly low, the levels have increased. Thus, the difference between the highest levels of activity during the daytime and the lowest levels of activity during the nighttime is much smaller in the middle-aged mice."

The study suggests that this increased nighttime alertness could be the reason sleeping patterns and time adjustments become more difficult for humans to maintain as they age. 

Hermosa Beach resident Tom Savard, 78, told Patch that he agrees age could affect sleep patterns, but had no complaints with his own sleep schedule.

“For one thing, I don’t eat or drink certain things past seven at night,” Savard said. “Then usually around 10:30 I will go to sleep and wake up at six in the morning to start the day.”

Hermosa Beach resident Carson Coyle, also 78, said that he wakes up frequently at night, but doesn’t feel the effects during the day.

“I’ve gotten used to it,” he said. “Sure, when I was younger, I slept a lot better but I can’t really do anything about it… I’m getting old... that’s really all there is to it. I’ve accepted that I won’t be getting 12 hours of sleep every night.”

Block, along with study co-author Christopher Colwell and the rest of the research team, plan to look into treatment options that could “enhance the function of the circadian system with aging,” according to UCLA.

Colwell and Block said in the report that exercising in the morning, eating meals at consistent times, and even getting regular exposure to bright light may help boost circadian output.

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