A new study suggests how older adults who are oversleeping or those who need more than nine hours of sleep at night could be showing some early signs of dementia. However, scientists say that this extra sleeping hours does not lead to the early development of memory problems.

According to co-author of the study, Matthew Pase from the Boston University School of Medicine, there are still a lot of factors to consider that can affect sleeping habits and time spent in bed. However, if confirmed as an early indication of memory problems, they can be easily treatable once they are diagnosed.

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During the course of the study, the team examined 2,457 cases where the average age of each individual is 72. The researchers were able to assess their health statuses and made them answer health surveys every few years.

Among all the participants, the team was able to identify 75 individuals who reported sleeping more than nine hours a night when they used to sleep at lesser number of hours. Those who slept longer than usual are twice as much to become diagnosed with dementia in the next decade compared to others who slept less than 9 hours a night.

Researchers also pointed out that this is applicable to those whose sleeping habits changed and increased hours when they got older. Those who slept for nine hours ever since did not possess an increased risk for dementia.

More specifically, Pase says that this risk is not as alarming since out of all the participants, only 21 percent of those who sleep for more than nine hours and nine percent of those who did not change their sleeping habits, have developed actual dementia.

Dementia is also a form of Alzheimer's disease but researchers clarify that sleeping longer hours does not have any effect in memory loss or decline in cognition. Researchers say that this longer sleeping habit is just a telltale sign that the there are early changes occurring in the brain. Pase adds, restricting or limiting sleep is not effective either.

Researchers are still trying to determine why the human brain and body reacts like this. The team suggests that the brain is trying to make up for these early dementia-related changes in the brain by resting and sleeping more. Pase also adds that this might be the brain's way of trying to repair itself.