Nightly Routines Boost Memory, Study Says

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama—A straightforward nightly activity may act as a memory-boosting tool. Writing down just five events from the day significantly improved memory performance in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and healthy older adults the following day, according to a recent study.

The RESTED-AD Study (Remote Evaluation of Sleep to Enhance Understanding in Early Dementia) was a cohort study comprising of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or early dementia and age-matched healthy controls. The study explored differences in sleep and examined whether these could be measured in people’s homes using technology such as smartphones and wearables, instead of in a sleep clinic. The RESTED-AD Study investigated the effects of autobiographical recall on memory performance utilizing 26 participants in two groups—with and without early-stage AD, dementia or mild cognitive impairment. 

They engaged in a word recognition task on two separate occasions. In one instance, participants were asked to write down five autobiographical events before bedtime. The following morning, when asked to recognize the previously shown words, the results indicated improved memory performance in both groups when the bedtime recall exercise was included.

“On the nights when participants wrote down events from the day, both the people with AD and healthy older adults did better in the memory task with the AD group benefitting even more,” said Co-Lead Researcher Jonathan Blackman. “We do not believe that this has been demonstrated before in human studies, and it holds promise as a drug-free intervention to enhance memory performance in healthy older adults and those with mild cognitive impairment or dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.”

While the study did not find a direct link between the bedtime recall exercise and sleep-related brain activity, there are other possible explanations. For example, the recall exercise may have stimulated areas of the brain involved in memory just before bedtime leading to improved memory performance in other tasks.

The study placed an emphasis on how this approach stands out due to its simplicity and accessibility. Unlike many existing memory interventions, which can be costly or require specialized equipment, this bedtime exercise can be easily incorporated into daily routines without additional resources.

The study’s authors emphasized the need for further research to replicate these findings in larger samples and to explore the underlying mechanisms driving the observed improvements in memory. Nonetheless, the current results hold promise for a low-risk, intervention that could benefit individuals with AD and healthy older adults alike.

“There are numerous approaches to improve memory in older people, but most are difficult to access, costly, time consuming or impractical,” Blackman said. “For patients with early or moderate Alzheimer’s disease and dementia there are also medications but these have modest benefit and can also potentially cause side effects. If we can show that these study results are repeated and replicated, we think that this could be an easily adopted intervention that could have a meaningful effect on memory.”