Chronic Insomnia Is Bad for the Brain. Like, Really Bad

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2 days ago

September 12, 2025

If you’re a chronic insomniac, you might experience faster declines in memory and thinking skills than your better-sleeping fellows. In other words, your brain might age faster.

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, researchers revealed that people with chronic insomnia, described as having trouble sleeping at least three days a week for three months or more, were significantly more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment or dementia than their healthy counterparts.

“Insomnia doesn’t just affect how you feel the next day—it may also impact your brain health over time,” Diego Carvalho, a Mayo Clinic neurologist and co-author of the study, said in an American Academy of Neurology statement. “We saw faster decline in thinking skills and changes in the brain that suggest chronic insomnia could be an early warning sign or even a contributor to future cognitive problems.”

3.5 years older

To clarify, the researchers don’t know if insomnia causes brain aging; they just highlight an association. In the study, the team tracked over 2,500 cognitively healthy people with an average age of 70 for an average of 5.6 years. 16% of the participants had chronic insomnia.

14% of the people with chronic insomnia developed mild cognitive impairment or dementia during the study, while only 10% of participants without insomnia developed those same symptoms. After the researchers took into account differences such as high blood pressure, use of sleep medications, age, and a diagnosis of sleep apnea, they revealed that insomniac participants had a 40% greater risk of developing mild cognitive impairment or dementia than those without insomnia. That’s equivalent to 3.5 extra years of aging. Their performances in thinking tests also decreased faster.

Of the patients with insomnia, those who reported less sleep than usual in the past two weeks were more likely to get lower cognitive test scores at the beginning of the study, equivalent to being four years older. Furthermore, they had more white matter hyperintensities (potentially damaged brain tissue from small vessel disease) and amyloid plaques (a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease). The buildup of the latter was akin to that in people with a known genetic risk factor.

Maintaining brain resilience

“Our results suggest that insomnia may affect the brain in different ways, involving not only amyloid plaques, but also small vessels supplying blood to the brain,” Carvalho said. “This reinforces the importance of treating chronic insomnia—not just to improve sleep quality but potentially to protect brain health as we age. Our results also add to a growing body of evidence that sleep isn’t just about rest—it’s also about brain resilience.”

Participants who claimed to get more sleep than usual in the past two weeks had greater chances of having fewer white matter hyperintensities at the start of the study.

The researchers admit that their results are limited by the fact that the insomnia diagnoses were from medical records that don’t indicate the severity of the symptoms or include undiagnosed cases. Nonetheless, the point of the study seems clear enough to me—get enough sleep. And if you can’t, get help.

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‘Hamnet’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award

Published

2 hours ago

September 14, 2025

Pete Hammond

The People’s Choice Award from the just-wrapped 50th Toronto Film Festival has gone to Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, first runner-up is Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and second runner-up is Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Hamnet hails from Focus Features, while latter two are from Netflix.

Also in the awards revealed Sunday, the newly created International People’s Choice Award went to Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice. The Documentary winner was Barry Avrich’s The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue.

Voted on by audience members since 1978 and often considered a harbinger for the Best Picture Oscar, the People’s Choice Award has been won by such eventual Best Picture Academy Award winners as Nomadland, Green Book, 12 Years a Slave, The King’s Speech, Slumdog Millionaire, American Beauty and Chariots of Fire. Among those that went on to Best Picture nominations include last year’s winner American Fiction as well as The Fabelmans, Belfast, JoJo Rabbit, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Room, La La Land, The Imitation Game, Silver Linings Playbook, Precious, Life Is Beautiful, Places in the Heart and The Big Chill.

Last year’s surprise winner, The Life of Chuck, had no North American distributor in place and was later picked up by Neon and released this summer, making it Oscar eligible this year, just as the new People’s Choice winner is. So we shall see how the tradition of TIFF and Oscar hold up in this regard. Last year both the first runner-up Emilia Pérez and second runner-up Anora went on to a collective 19 Oscar nominations between them, both nominated for Best Picture, with Anora winning.

Hamnet is a historical drama co-written, co-edited and directed by Zhao, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal star in the emotionally charged drama that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and had its international premiere at TIFF. It is considered a major Oscar contender from Focus and represents Zhao’s second People’s Choice Award at TIFF after 2020’s Nomadland, which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

The pic is set for a limited Thanksgiving release November 27 and a wide release starting December 12.

Here is the list of this year’s TIFF award winners:

People’s Choice Award

Hamnet, dir. Chloé Zhao

First runner-up: Frankenstein, dir. Guillermo del Toro

Second runner-up: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, dir. Rian Johnson

International People’s Choice Award

No Other Choice, dir. Park Chan-wook

First runner-up: Sentimental Value, dir. Joachim Trier

Second runner-up: Homebound, dir. Neeraj Ghaywan

People’s Choice Documentary Award

The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, dir. Barry Avrich

First runner-up: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, dir. Baz Luhrmann

Second runner-up: You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution…, dir. Nick Davis

People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, dir. Matt Johnson

First runner-up: Obsession, dir. Curry Barker

Second runner-up: The Furious, dir. Kenji Tanigaki

Short Cuts Award for Best International Short Film

Talk Me, dir. Joecar Hanna | Spain/USA

Honourable Mention: Agapito, dirs. Arvin Belarmino & Kyla Danelle Romero | Philippines

Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film

The Girl Who Cried Pearls, dirs. Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski | Canada

Honourable Mention: A Soft Touch, dir. Heather Young

Short Cuts Award for Best Animated Short Film

To the Woods, dir. Agnès Patron | France

FIPRESCI Prize: Forastera, dir. Lucía Aleñar Iglesias | Spain/Italy/Sweden

NETPAC Award

In Search of The Sky (Vimukt), dir. Jitank Singh Gurjar | India

Best Canadian Discovery Award

Blue Heron, dir. Sophy Romvari | Canada

Honourable Mention: 100 Sunset, dir. Kunsang Kyirong | Canada

Best Canadian Feature Film Award

Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband), dir. Zacharias Kunuk | Canada

Honourable Mention: There Are No Words, dir. Min Sook Lee | Canada

Platform Award

To The Victory!, dir. Valentyn Vasyanovych | Ukraine/Lithuania

Honourable Mention: Hen, dir. György Pálfi | Germany/Greece/Hungary

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We will never surrender our flag, Sir Keir Starmer says

Published

2 hours ago

September 14, 2025

Tom McArthur

EPA Protesters taking part in a 'Unite the Kingdom' rally are held back by police officers, some on horses, in central London.

Britain will not surrender its flag to those who wish to use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister said the flag represents “our diverse country” and he will not allow people to feel intimidated on “our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin”.

His comments come after more than 150,000 people took to the streets of central London for a “Unite the Kingdom” march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and about 5,000 took part in a counter-protest, co-ordinated by Stand Up To Racism.

Earlier, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said marchers were “demonstrating freedom of association and freedom of speech”.

The prime minister said on Sunday afternoon: “People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country’s values.

“But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin.

“Britain is nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect. Our flag represents our diverse country and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division.”

Police say 26 officers were injured on the day – including four who were seriously hurt – with 24 people arrested.

For most of Saturday afternoon, central London was filled with thousands of people waving mainly union jacks as well as St George’s flags. Some Scottish Saltires and Welsh flags were also seen.

Reuters Large crowds fill Whitehall in central London with many seen waving union jacks and St George's flags, with grand Whitehall cream-coloured buildings seen in the background. — About 150,000 people descended on central London for the march organised by Robinson

Speaking about the protests, Kyle said on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg moments like these were “klaxon calls” for those in power to redouble their efforts to address the big concerns people have, including on immigration.

“What worries me most is the divisions in our society and other societies and other democratic societies… it’s not even the left and the right at the moment,” he told the programme.

“There are figures such as Tommy Robinson that are able to touch into a sense of disquiet and grievance in the community in our society,” he said.

The “small minority” who had committed violence would be held accountable, he told the programme.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk spoke to protesters on Whitehall via videolink, telling them to “fight back” or “die”. He also referred to massive uncontrolled migration and called for a change of government in the UK.

Kyle criticised some of Musk’s comments as “totally inappropriate”.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, addressed crowds directly at the march where he criticised politicians for “parroting” his ideas.

A huge policing operation was put in place for the protests this weekend, with about 1,000 Met officers deployed and an extra 500 from other forces including Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Devon and Cornwall drafted in.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence.”

The protest was largely peaceful on Saturday lunchtime but as the afternoon continued, tensions flared.

The Met said some officers had been attacked while trying to keep the two groups apart and dozens of officers were injured, including four who were seriously hurt.

The number of protesters joining the march, organised by Robinson, became too large to fit into Whitehall, police said, and confrontation took place when officers tried to stop them encircling counter-protesters.

Mounted police officers used batons to push back the crowds and officers were kicked and punched, the Met said.

Three of the 24 people arrested were women and the rest were men, while the youngest and oldest people detained at the protest were aged 19 and 58 respectively, the force said on Sunday.

Several people were arrested for more than one offence.

The force added officers were working to identify other people involved in disorder with a view to making further arrests.

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‘He’s way better than Mayweather’: Crawford hailed by Canelo after signature win | Terence Crawford

Published

2 hours ago

September 14, 2025

Bryan Armen Graham

After scaling two divisions to outclass Canelo Álvarez for the undisputed super-middleweight championship before a record crowd on Saturday night, Terence Crawford wasted no time calling it the defining performance of an already brilliant career.

“This is definitely a signature win,” Crawford said. “Moving up two weight classes, being the B-side, fighting a guy that’s been undefeated in the division, undisputed, taking all his titles, doing everything that I said I was going to do. Of course this means a lot.”

Asked when he knew he would beat Álvarez, the laconic Crawford didn’t miss a beat. “When he signed the contract,” he said, drawing laughter from the room. But the one-liners were accompanied by a deeper insistence that this result was no accident. “When I set my sights on doing something and I know what I’m capable of, it’s not like a surprise to me,” he said. “It’s a surprise to y’all, because y’all didn’t believe me. But for me, I knew I could do it. I just needed the opportunity.”

Crawford described the first few rounds as controlled rather than cautious. “I felt like I was in control,” he said. “I think he was trying to figure me out.” When Álvarez did get through with punches to the body, Crawford brushed them off. “He wasn’t hitting the body or anything. He was hitting my elbow because I was blocking it.”

The sixth round, when Crawford began to stand his ground and land sharp left hands, marked the moment he felt the balance shift. “Around like the sixth round, I felt like I needed to step it up a little more and get more control of the fight, because the fight was going like a seesaw effect,” he said. From there he grew more confident, even smiling at Canelo’s best shots in the late rounds.

Much of the buildup had focused on whether Crawford, who had fought at 147lb or below in all but one of his 41 previous fights, could handle Canelo’s power. He was dismissive. “I’ve been hit harder,” he said, citing Egidijus Kavaliauskas, who hurt him briefly in 2019. “[Kavaliauskas] hit harder than Canelo, to me, to be honest.”

When told that Álvarez appeared to fade in the later rounds, Crawford refused to diminish his opponent. “He was 1,000% prepared. I just think I was the better man today.”

Álvarez, for his part, offered no excuses after turning up for a press conference that most would have understood if he’d blown off. “We knew Crawford is a great fighter … I tried my best tonight, and I just couldn’t figure out the style. You need to take the loss and accept everything,” he said. Later he added, almost ruefully: “Sometimes you try and your body cannot go. That’s my frustration … my body just didn’t let me go any more.”

Canelo Álvarez, left, and Terence Crawford exchange words after Saturday night’s post-fight press conference. Photograph: Harry How/Getty Images for Netflix

The win made Crawford the first male boxer in the four-belt era to become undisputed in three divisions, an achievement previously matched only by Henry Armstrong in 1938. “It means a lot to me, because anybody can be a nobody,” Crawford said. “That’s all they say I’ve been fighting is nobodies. So what can they say now? Somebody tell me, what can you say now?”

Crawford insisted he had nothing but respect for Canelo. “He’s a great champion. He’s a strong competitor,” he said. “Like I said before, I’ve got nothing but respect for Canelo. I’m a big fan of Canelo and he fought like a champion today.” Álvarez even returned the compliment with a striking admission: “I think Crawford is way better than Floyd Mayweather.”

As for his own place in history, Crawford pushed back against the inevitable comparisons. “Floyd was the greatest in his era. I’m the greatest in my era. It ain’t no need to compare me to Floyd or Floyd to me.”

And then, the fighter who has built a career on being understated, finished with a reminder that the vindication was as much about the doubters as the believers. “The ones that doubted me, they know,” he said. “I don’t have to say I told you so or rub it in their face. This right here is I told you so.”

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