New research from Imperial College London involving over 26,000 participants found that late sleepers consistently outperformed early risers on cognitive tests measuring intelligence, reasoning and memory.
While the study disputes the stereotype that night owls are less mentally sharp, lead author Dr Raha West noted that adequate sleep (7-9 hours) is still essential for optimal brain function. Experts, however, cautioned potential confounding factors such as education level and testing times.
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