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

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