A lack of good quality sleep has long been linked to an increased risk of developing dementia, but new research goes further – giving us an optimal amount of overnight slumber to minimize dementia risk later in life.

Using data gathered and pooled from 69 previous studies, a team from York University in Canada ran a statistical analysis to look for associations with dementia for three different factors: physical activity, time spent sitting, and sleep duration.

These are all variables we can control ourselves, up to a point, and the number crunching showed that between 7 and 8 hours of slumber each night was the sweet spot when it came to minimizing dementia risk.