Adults Who Nap Regularly 'Have Bigger Brains' Study Suggests

If you’ve ever felt guilty about sneaking in a daytime nap, here’s some reassuring news: your afternoon snooze might actually be doing your brain a favour.

A study from researchers at University College London and the University of the Republic in Uruguay suggests that regular daytime napping could help keep your brain healthier for longer. The research found that people who tend to nap regularly may have larger overall brain volume - a key sign of good brain health and a lower risk of conditions like dementia.

In other words, that quick nap might not be lazy, it could be the smartest thing you do all day!

Why napping might be good for your brain

The study looked at adults aged 40–69 and found a link between habitual napping and bigger brains. Researchers estimate that the difference in brain volume between regular nappers and non-nappers could be roughly equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 years of ageing, which is pretty impressive for something that involves lying down and closing your eyes.

Senior researcher Dr Victoria Garfield explained that short daytime naps could be one of the small lifestyle habits that help protect brain health as we get older.

This backs up previous research showing that a quick nap can boost cognitive performance. People who nap often perform better on memory and thinking tests in the hours afterwards compared with those who power through the day without a rest.

What the researchers did

To dig deeper into whether napping actually causes these benefits (rather than just being linked to them), researchers used a method that looks at genetic differences between people. They analysed DNA data from nearly 380,000 participants in the UK Biobank study, focusing on genetic markers linked to a natural tendency to nap.

They found that people who were genetically more likely to nap tended to have larger total brain volumes overall.

Interestingly, napping didn’t seem to affect every aspect of brain function. The researchers didn’t find differences in reaction time, visual processing, or hippocampal volume - a part of the brain linked to memory.

Still, the overall findings suggest that regular napping could play a role in long-term brain health.

The ideal nap length

While the study didn’t track how long participants napped for, earlier research suggests that short naps of around 30 minutes or less deliver the biggest benefits. Napping earlier in the day is also less likely to interfere with your nighttime sleep.

So if you’re planning to catch some daytime Zs, keep it short and sweet.

No more nap guilt

Daytime napping sometimes gets a bad reputation, but the researchers hope studies like this help change that.

For many people, a quick nap isn’t indulgent, it’s practical. And if future research continues to support these findings, your midday snooze might turn out to be one of the easiest ways to look after your brain.

So next time you feel your eyelids drooping, instead of grabbing a coffee, grab a pillow!