Do you feel older than you are? This may be a result of your sleeping patterns.

(CNN) — Not getting enough sleep can make you feel five to 10 years older than your age, according to two new studies.

“Sleep plays an important role in how older people feel,” Leonie Balter, a sleep researcher at Stockholm University in Sweden and lead author of both studies, wrote in an email.

Health and mobility issues can also contribute to feeling older, but when it comes to sleep, getting enough sleep is key to making yourself feel older, according to studies published this Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. According.

“Lack of sleep induces feelings of drowsiness. Drowsiness is an important motivational state that causes us to prioritize sleep and reduces our energy levels,” he said.

According to the study, people who sleep well during the last 30 days feel about six years younger on average. (Credit: SimpleImages/Momento RF/Getty Images/File)

A lack of energy and motivation can certainly contribute to feeling older by limiting a person’s ability to remain physically and socially active, Balter said, both of which contribute to feeling younger.

“Age can be understood in multiple dimensions: chronological, biological and subjective,” said sleep researcher Dr. Chang-Ho Yun, professor of neurology at Seoul National University in Seongnam, South Korea, who was not involved in the study.

“Overall, these findings underscore the importance of adequate sleep for maintaining subjective youthful age, potentially benefiting both mental and physical health,” they wrote in an email.

According to science, feeling young is a good thing. Studies have linked it to longer survival, lower rates of dementia, less depression, more positive traits such as optimism, hope and resilience, and better physical and mental health.

In fact, people who feel younger than they are are more likely to have a mind match. A June 2018 study found that older people who perceived themselves as younger had more gray matter in their brains and scored younger on brain age tests.

Two studies, similar results

Balter and colleagues conducted two studies. One tested how well 429 people aged 18 to 70 slept in their own homes over the past month. Because of poor sleep every night during that time, people reported feeling about a quarter year older than their age.

“Mood disturbances and feelings of fatigue also contribute to the subjective feeling of aging,” Yun said. “These changes are typical manifestations of sleep deprivation and may increase both sleepiness and the perception of older age.”

However, if the person sleeps well during the month, he feels on average about six years younger than his actual age.

severe sleep deprivation

In the second study, 186 of the same participants were asked to sleep in a laboratory for two nights, making sure they got no more than four hours of sleep each night. The subjective experience of aging was much greater when people experienced this degree of sleep deprivation: On average, people felt about four and a half years older than they actually were.

How quickly can people recover from the nightmare and start feeling young again?

“The answer to this question is unknown. Our data suggests that it may be quite rapid,” Balter said. “Anything that can reduce drowsiness can have an immediate effect on subjective aging. However, for more significant and longer-lasting effects, it is essential to ensure adequate sleep.”

The second study tracked sleepiness, and for each increase on the measurement scale, people added 1.23 years to their assessment of aging.

Gender did not matter, but sleep chronology did; Those who like to get up early, often called larks, felt its effects most deeply.

Larks were thought to be five years older than night owls, and four years older than those of the intermediate type, people with biological clocks that did not fit into either extreme. However, when the larks slept for nine hours a night, they felt much younger.

So does a lark need more sleep than a night owl?

“These findings support that sleep, an important biological phenomenon, may be a key to feeling youthful,” Balter and colleagues wrote in the study.

To improve overall health, it’s important to prioritize getting enough sleep, Yun said.

“If you suspect that your lack of sleep is due to a sleep disorder such as insomnia or sleep apnea, it is important to seek evaluation and treatment from a health care professional,” she said.

“Remember, a good night’s sleep can help you stay young.”