Association between insomnia and cognitive performance, gray matter volume, and white matter microstructure in cognitively unimpaired adults
Grau-Rivera O, Operto G, Falcón C, Sánchez-Benavides G, Cacciaglia R, Brugulat-Serrat A, Gramunt N, Salvadó G et al.. Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2020-01-07
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Background Mounting evidence links poor sleep quality with a higher risk of late-life dementia. The study aims were to characterize the cognitive performance and brain structural pattern of cognitively unimpaired adults at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) with insomnia. Results Insomnia was reported by 615 out of 1683 participants (36.5%), including 137 out of 366 (37.4%) with T1-weighted structural imaging available and 119 out of 334 (35.6%) with diffusion-weighted imaging. Conclusions Insomnia in cognitively unimpaired adults at increased risk for AD is associated to poorer performance in some executive functions and volume changes in cortical and subcortical gray matter, including key areas involved in Alzheimer's disease, as well as decreased white matter diffusivity.
Key findings
- Background Mounting evidence links poor sleep quality with a higher risk of late-life dementia.
- The study aims were to characterize the cognitive performance and brain structural pattern of cognitively unimpaired adults at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) with insomnia.
- Results Insomnia was reported by 615 out of 1683 participants (36.5%), including 137 out of 366 (37.4%) with T1-weighted structural imaging available and 119 out of 334 (35.6%) with diffusion-weighted imaging.
- Conclusions Insomnia in cognitively unimpaired adults at increased risk for AD is associated to poorer performance in some executive functions and volume changes in cortical and subcortical gray matter, including key areas involved in Alzheimer's disease, as well as decreased white matter diffusivity.
Why it matters
In cognitively unimpaired adults at increased Alzheimer risk, insomnia was linked to poorer performance on some executive tasks and to gray and white matter differences. This is a cross-sectional association and does not show that treating insomnia prevents Alzheimer disease.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants366
- Effect size36.5%; 37.4%; 35.6%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 61/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer's research & therapy) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Alzheimer s Research & Therapy: journal h-index 146 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 366 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 113 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 14.1 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 11.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 60 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author José Luís Molinuevo: h-index 106 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Hospital Clínic de Barcelona: institution h-index 827 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 11 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 31907066) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 61 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1186/s13195-019-0547-3
- PubMed: 31907066
- Original source →
- Free full text: Alzheimer s Research & Therapy →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Grau-Rivera, O., Operto, G., Falcón, C., Sánchez-Benavides, G., Cacciaglia, R., Brugulat-Serrat, A., et al. (2020). Association between insomnia and cognitive performance, gray matter volume, and white matter microstructure in cognitively unimpaired adults. Alzheimer's research & therapy. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-019-0547-3
Vancouver
Grau-Rivera O, Operto G, Falcón C, Sánchez-Benavides G, Cacciaglia R, Brugulat-Serrat A, et al. Association between insomnia and cognitive performance, gray matter volume, and white matter microstructure in cognitively unimpaired adults. Alzheimer's research & therapy. 2020. doi:10.1186/s13195-019-0547-3. PMID: 31907066.
BibTeX
@article{graurivera2020-31907066,
author = {Grau-Rivera, O. and Operto, G. and Falcón, C. and Sánchez-Benavides, G. and Cacciaglia, R. and Brugulat-Serrat, A. and Gramunt, N. and Salvadó, G. and others},
title = {{Association between insomnia and cognitive performance, gray matter volume, and white matter microstructure in cognitively unimpaired adults}},
journal = {Alzheimer's research \& therapy},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1186/s13195-019-0547-3},
pmid = {31907066},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-019-0547-3}
}
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