You may want to think twice next time before raiding your refrigerator late at night as it may not only affect the waistline but your brain too.
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that eating at typical sleeping time could damage your memory, as digesting while you’re meant to be asleep would affect the hippocampus, the part of the brain that governs long-term memory and the ability to recognize a novel object.
The researchers tested the theory on a group of mice and found that the ones which were fed at their normal sleeping time were less able to recall receiving a shock. Their long-term memory was also affected, according to the findings published in the journal eLife.
The researchers said this may be because eating at sleeping hours would lead to reduced levels of the protein called CREB, which is key for the body’s internal clock and the brain’s ability to form memories. When CREB is less active, it decreases memory and may play a role in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
The scientists stress that their findings have not been confirmed in humans, but highlight the fact that people working night shifts have shown to perform comparatively lesser on cognitive tests.
