Spatial Memory Likely Affected by Sleep Apnea
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If that’s not enough to make you worried, sleep specialists at the NYU Langone Medical Center contend the disorder might also hamper your spatial memory.
That includes not remembering things like locking the front door of your house or turning off the iron.
Dr. Andrew Varga explained while scientists haven’t found a direct cause-and-effect relationship between sleep apnea and spatial memory impairment, there appears to be some association since sleep apnea normally affects the deepest level of sleep when dreams occur.
Varga say that this might also prevent people from forming certain memories.
About four percent of the population suffers from this disorder, particularly middle-age men. One way to mitigate the problem is with a breathing aid during sleep.
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