The older adults forgot far more of the facts by the following morning than the young adults—a difference of almost 50 percent. Furthermore, those older adults with the greatest loss of deep sleep showed the most catastrophic overnight forgetting. Poor memory and poor sleep in old age are therefore not coincidental, but rather significantly interrelated. The findings helped us shed new light on the forgetfulness that is all too common in the elderly, such as difficulty remembering people’s names or memorizing upcoming hospital appointments.
