The relationship between chronotype and cognitive function (Image courtesy of the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine)
DAEJEON, Jul. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – A new study has revealed that “night owls” who wake up later in the day exhibit higher cognitive abilities than their “early bird” counterparts who rise at dawn.
The research, conducted jointly by a team from the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM) and Imperial College London, analyzed the relationship between chronotype (an individual’s natural inclination towards specific activity times) and cognitive function using a large-scale dataset. The findings were announced by KIOM on July 23.
The study, which involved 26,800 British adults, compared cognitive abilities across different chronotypes. Results showed that individuals who typically wake up between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. scored 7% to 14% higher on cognitive assessments than those who rise between 4:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
However, the researchers cautioned that these findings only consider wake-up times and do not account for total sleep duration, which varied between the groups.
The study also examined how memory decline rates differed among morning, intermediate, and evening types in relation to total sleep duration. (Image courtesy of the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine)
The study also examined how memory decline rates differed among morning, intermediate, and evening types in relation to total sleep duration.
The optimal sleep duration for minimizing memory decline risk was found to be 5 to 6 hours for morning types and 7 to 8 hours for evening types. This suggests that morning types may be more efficient with shorter sleep durations.
Park Ji-eun, the lead researcher from KIOM, emphasized the significance of the study. “Until now, sleep research has primarily focused on sleep duration and quality,” she said. “Our findings confirm that individual chronotypes can influence sleep health.”
The research marks a departure from traditional sleep studies by highlighting the role of personal biological rhythms in cognitive function and memory preservation.
The findings were published in the British journal BMC Public Health on July 10.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
