Sleep and Cognitive Functioning

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2024) | Viewed by 2155

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Heraklion, 71500 Heraklion, Greece
2. Sleep Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychiatry, Penn State University, State College, PA 16802, USA
Interests: aging; sleep; cognitive disorders

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The cognitive role of sleep involves contributing to memory consolidation and learning processes. Sleep deprivation leads to multiple cognitive deficits and decreased cognitive performance. Most evidently, inadequate sleep quality and quantity induce significant attention deficits that affect functionality throughout the day. Sleep dysregulation associates with elevated inflammation markers and cortisol levels that influence cognition and, particularly, proper memory function. Furthermore, sleep architecture undergoes significant age-related changes that further affect cognitive functioning. Cross-sectional studies indicate that insomnia-type symptoms and poor sleep quality are highly prevalent among the elderly and associate with increased odds for cognitive impairment, whereas other studies lean toward daytime sleepiness as a risk factor for cognitive decline. What is more, sleep disturbances have been linked to dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment diagnosis and disease prognosis. Objectively assessed long sleep duration is particularly frequent among dementia patients and associates with reduced performance on high cognitive demand tasks, whereas this relationship may be driven by the genetic factors linked with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking under consideration the complex interplay between sleep processes, stress hormones, inflammation markers, and cognition, we welcome papers investigating the above factors in the current Special Issue.

Dr. Maria Basta
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • sleep microstructure
  • sleep macrostructure
  • sleep quality
  • sleep duration
  • cognitive function
  • information encoding
  • information recall
  • learning
  • attention processes
  • sleep deprivation
  • stress hormones
  • pro-inflammatory cytokines
  • neurocognitive disorders

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 637 KiB  
Article
Cretan Aging Cohort-Phase III: Methodology and Descriptive Characteristics of a Long-Term Longitudinal Study on Predictors of Cognitive Decline in Non-Demented Elderly from Crete, Greece
by Maria Basta, Eleni Skourti, Christina Alexopoulou, Alexandros Zampetakis, Andronikos Ganiaris, Marina Aligizaki, Panagiotis Simos and Alexandros N. Vgontzas
Healthcare 2023, 11(5), 703; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11050703 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1757
Abstract
Identifying modifiable factors that may predict long-term cognitive decline in the elderly with adequate daily functionality is critical. Such factors may include poor sleep quality and quantity, sleep-related breathing disorders, inflammatory cytokines and stress hormones, as well as mental health problems. This work [...] Read more.
Identifying modifiable factors that may predict long-term cognitive decline in the elderly with adequate daily functionality is critical. Such factors may include poor sleep quality and quantity, sleep-related breathing disorders, inflammatory cytokines and stress hormones, as well as mental health problems. This work reports the methodology and descriptive characteristics of a long-term, multidisciplinary study on modifiable risk factors for cognitive status progression, focusing on the 7-year follow-up. Participants were recruited from a large community-dwelling cohort residing in Crete, Greece (CAC; Cretan Aging Cohort). Baseline assessments were conducted in 2013–2014 (Phase I and II, circa 6-month time interval) and follow-up in 2020–2022 (Phase III). In total, 151 individuals completed the Phase III evaluation. Of those, 71 were cognitively non-impaired (CNI group) in Phase II and 80 had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In addition to sociodemographic, lifestyle, medical, neuropsychological, and neuropsychiatric data, objective sleep was assessed based on actigraphy (Phase II and III) and home polysomnography (Phase III), while inflammation markers and stress hormones were measured in both phases. Despite the homogeneity of the sample in most sociodemographic indices, MCI persons were significantly older (mean age = 75.03 years, SD = 6.34) and genetically predisposed for cognitive deterioration (APOE ε4 allele carriership). Also, at follow-up, we detected a significant increase in self-reported anxiety symptoms along with a substantial rise in psychotropic medication use and incidence of major medical morbidities. The longitudinal design of the CAC study may provide significant data on possible modifiable factors in the course of cognitive progression in the community-dwelling elderly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sleep and Cognitive Functioning)
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