After mild stroke, more sleep or time spent trying to sleep tied to thinking problems

The study does not prove that these sleep issues cause these brain changes and thinking problems; it only shows an association.   

“These results show that disturbed sleep may be a marker of adverse brain health, even for people with mild strokes or TIAs,” said study author Professor Joanna M. Wardlaw, Row Fogo Centre Director and study lead.  “While many people know that a lack of sleep can lead to health issues, less is known about the effects of sleeping longer at night or spending a long time in bed trying to make up for having trouble sleeping—whether people are doing this consciously or not.” 

The study involved 422 people from Edinburgh and Hong Kong with an average age of 66 who had a mild stroke or a TIA, which is also called a “mini stroke.” Within one to three months after the stroke, all participants had brain scans, filled out sleep questionnaires and took cognitive tests. 

The participants had an average score of one point on a test where scores of one to four indicate a mild stroke. 

People who spent a longer time in bed were more likely to have signs of damage to small blood vessels in the brain, including a greater volume of white matter hyperintensities, or areas in the white matter of the brain where brain tissue has been damaged. They were also more likely to have slightly lower scores on the test of thinking and memory skills.

“More research is needed to confirm these findings and also to look at whether prolonged sleep has negative effects on people who have never had a stroke or TIA,”  Professor Wardlaw said. “Of course, research is also needed on whether improving people’s sleep patterns after stroke could ward off some of these possible detrimental effects.” 

The study was a snapshot in time—it did not follow participants to see changes over time, and researchers did not look at participants’ sleep quality before they had strokes. 

The study was supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh. 

Read the paper from the link below: 

Association of Self-Reported Sleep Metrics With Imaging Markers of Small Vessel Disease and Cognition in Patients With TIA or Mild Stroke | Neurology

Liu DX, Ip MS, Lam DC, Chappell FM, Clancy U, Jaime Garcia D, Arteaga-Reyes C, Valdés Hernández MDC, Thrippleton M, Stringer MS, Cheng Y, Zhang J, Doubal F, Lau GKK, Wardlaw JM. Association of Self-Reported Sleep Metrics With Imaging Markers of Small Vessel Disease and Cognition in Patients With TIA or Mild Stroke. Neurology. 2025 Jun 24;104(12):e213734. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213734. Epub 2025 May 28. PMID: 40435444; PMCID: PMC12113490.