Sleep and Cognitive Functioning

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2024) | Viewed by 2136

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
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

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

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 1743
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)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop