Prenuvo MRI study ties sleep efficiency to brain, metabolic health

Prenuvo is highlighting a study showing that higher sleep efficiency is tied to lower visceral fat and greater parietal gray matter volume.

The study included 14,031 adults who underwent whole-body MRI at Prenuvo and was published in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Prenuvo conducted the study with Matthew Walker, PhD, and Eti Ben Simon, PhD, of the Sleep Innovation Laboratories at the University of Texas at Dallas. Participants, who had an average age of 50, reported sleep duration and efficiency through intake questions based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Researchers measured brain volumes and visceral fat on the MRI scans, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, scanner location, and head size.

In addition to the sleep efficiency findings, the researchers reported that sleeping longer than eight hours was associated with smaller hippocampal volume. Longitudinal research is needed to determine whether the associations can inform preventive care, Prenuvo said.