We need less sleep as we get older, according to a report released this week in Current Biology. The report found that healthy older adults sleep less even when they have the opportunity for more sleep. The study’s authors attribute this to age –related changes that affect an individual’s ability to fall asleep and remain asleep.

The study was conducted by Elizabeth Klerman of Harvard Medical School in concert with Derk-Jan Dijk, of the University of Surrey in the UK. The goal was to compare the capacity for sleep in young people (between the ages of 18 and 32) and older people (age 60 to 72) under conditions that controlled the circadian rhythms by allowing the chance to sleep through the night and the day and by controlling individual choices in sleep opportunities.

Given the same amount of time in bed, older people take longer to fall asleep and sleep for less time than younger people do. When required to remain in bed for 16 hours a day, older people slept 1.5 hours less on average than younger people.

Klerman noted that this study is likely to change the way older adults are evaluated for treatment of insomnia. She contends that some older adults may be taking sleep medication when they don’t really need it.

Source: Cell Press