Sleep Sweet Spot: 6.4–7.8 Hours Linked to Slower Aging Across 17 Organs
A UK Biobank study using organ-specific aging clocks across 17 organs finds a U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and biological aging: both <6 hours and >8 hours accelerate aging, with the slowest aging in people who sleep 6.4–7.8 hours daily. Sleep affects a coordinated brain–body network, linking short sleep to depression and metabolic/cardiovascular diseases, while long sleep associates with different pathways involving adipose clocks. The research suggests sleep optimization could slow systemic aging and reduce disease risk, including late-life depression.