Fragmented sleep in women isn’t just about caregiving- biology plays a bigger role than we thought, reveals groundbreaking research.
- Women sleep less and experience more fragmented, less restorative NREM sleep than men, as shown in studies across multiple species
- Biological factors like cortisol and sex hormones significantly influence women’s sleep patterns beyond caregiving roles
- Research on mice suggests females are biologically wired to be more environment-sensitive, linking sleep to caregiving instincts
While caregiving responsibilities frequently disrupt women’s sleep, a new study showed that biological factors may also play a part in why women sleep less.
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Sleep Patterns Vary Among Men and Women
The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that women sleep less and wake up more frequently (1). They also have less restorative sleep than men. The findings from mouse research shed new light on what may be causing men and women to sleep differently. “In humans, men and women exhibit distinct sleep patterns, often attributed to lifestyle factors and caregiving roles,” said Rachel Rowe, assistant professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, in the United States.
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Do Biological Factors Affect Sleep?
“Our findings suggest that biological factors may play a larger role in driving these sleep differences than previously thought,” Rowe noted. Sleep research has blossomed in recent years, with thousands of animal experiments investigating how poor sleep increases the risk of diseases such as diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, and immunological disorders, as well as how such diseases affect sleep. The non-invasive study employed customized cages equipped with ultrasensitive movement sensors to examine the sleep habits of 267 “C57BL/6J” mice. They discovered that male mice slept for approximately 670 minutes each 24-hour period, which is about an hour longer than female mice.
That extra sleep was non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which is a restorative sleep during which the body repairs itself. Female mice were shown to have shorter sleep periods, indicating that their sleep is more fragmented. Other animals studied included fruit flies, rats, zebrafish, and birds, all of which showed similar sex differences.
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Why Women Sleep Lesser Than Men?
Rowe stated that biologically, “females are designed to be more sensitive to their environment and be aroused when they need to be because they are typically the ones who are caring for the young,” adding that stress hormones such as cortisol (which promotes wakefulness) and sex hormones may also play a role. The team hopes for future research to understand the underlying molecular variations that can help with sleep management.
References:
- Females sleep less, awaken more frequently than males
(https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/11/241121115806.htm)
Source-Medindia
