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Sleep duration and mental well-being are associated with delayed memory in a 12-week digital and remote community-sample study
Marcolini S, Polk SE, Düzel E, Berron D.. medRxiv, 2026-08-02
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Sleeping more than one’s usual average the night before testing was associated with better delayed memory ( β = 0.03, p = 0.02), while no between-person sleep effects emerged. These findings suggest that participants’ averages of sleep duration and mental well-being should be considered when interpreting performance on remote digital memory assessments. Highlights - Sleeping longer than one’s typical average relates to better delayed memory performance. - Better mental well-being, relative to individual and group averages, is linked to better delayed memory. - Sleep duration and mental well-being should be accounted for when interpreting results from digital memory testing. Author Summary Remote digital assessments of memory are increasingly being used to identify individuals at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease, support clinical trial recruitment, and monitor cognitive changes over time. We found that people had better memory after sleeping more than they usually did. Feeling mentally better, both compared with one’s own usual state and compared to others, was also linked to better memory. The findings highlight the importance of considering both sleep and psychological well-being when interpreting memory test results collected remotely.
Key findings
- Sleeping more than one’s usual average the night before testing was associated with better delayed memory ( β = 0.03, p = 0.02), while no between-person sleep effects emerged.
- These findings suggest that participants’ averages of sleep duration and mental well-being should be considered when interpreting performance on remote digital memory assessments.
- Highlights - Sleeping longer than one’s typical average relates to better delayed memory performance. - Better mental well-being, relative to individual and group averages, is linked to better delayed memory. - Sleep duration and mental well-being should be accounted for when interpreting results from digital memory testing.
- Author Summary Remote digital assessments of memory are increasingly being used to identify individuals at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease, support clinical trial recruitment, and monitor cognitive changes over time.
- We found that people had better memory after sleeping more than they usually did.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants329
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 39 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 24 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 39 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (medRxiv) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 329 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 24 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 24 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 39 out of 100. |
| Total | 39 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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APA 7th
Marcolini, S., Polk, S. E., Düzel, E., & Berron, D. (2026). Sleep duration and mental well-being are associated with delayed memory in a 12-week digital and remote community-sample study. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.29.26359263
Vancouver
Marcolini S, Polk SE, Düzel E, Berron D. Sleep duration and mental well-being are associated with delayed memory in a 12-week digital and remote community-sample study. medRxiv. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.07.29.26359263.
BibTeX
@article{marcolini2026-76517e05,
author = {Marcolini, S. and Polk, S. E. and Düzel, E. and Berron, D.},
title = {{Sleep duration and mental well-being are associated with delayed memory in a 12-week digital and remote community-sample study}},
journal = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.07.29.26359263},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.29.26359263}
}