Study Suggests Disrupted Sleep Patterns Could Lead to Cognitive Decline

Study Suggests Disrupted Sleep Patterns Could Lead to Cognitive Decline

Study Suggests Disrupted Sleep Patterns , Could Lead to Cognitive Decline.

New research suggests that heightened variability in sleep patterns can significantly impact cognitive impairment in old age.

PsyPost reports that there is already a well-established association between dementia and sleep disruption.

Recent studies have suggested that sleep disruption might contribute to the pathological processes responsible for developing dementia.

Recent studies have suggested that sleep disruption might contribute to the pathological processes responsible for developing dementia.

The new study looked to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of how changes in sleep patterns might impact cognitive health over time.

The new study looked to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of how changes in sleep patterns might impact cognitive health over time.

Our lab studies a new function of sleep that has been characterized over the last ten years – that during sleep the brain shifts into a kind of ‘cleaning mode,’ clearing away wastes that accumulate through the course of the waking day, Jeffrey Iliff, Study author professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and of neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, via PsyPost.

Our work has shown that an impairment of this process appears to be one of the factors that may make the aging and injured brain vulnerable to the processes leading to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

, Jeffrey Iliff, Study author professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and of neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, via PsyPost.

We wanted to start working with local clinical studies to evaluate possible linkages between poor sleep earlier in life, and the development of cognitive impairment in the decades to follow.

, Jeffrey Iliff, Study author professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and of neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, via PsyPost.

We wanted to start working with local clinical studies to evaluate possible linkages between poor sleep earlier in life, and the development of cognitive impairment in the decades to follow.

, Jeffrey Iliff, Study author professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and of neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, via PsyPost.

That is what led us to our initial collaboration with the longstanding Seattle Longitudinal Study, Jeffrey Iliff, Study author professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and of neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, via PsyPost.

The team's findings were published in the journal 'JAMA Network Open.'.

PsyPost suggests that the findings still need a more comprehensive evaluation of long-term sleep behavior to fully understand the link between age, sleep disruption and cognitive degeneration.

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PsyPost suggests that the findings still need a more comprehensive evaluation of long-term sleep behavior to fully understand the link between age, sleep disruption and cognitive degeneration.