Home › Research › Brain scans and imaging
Reduced non-rapid eye movement sleep is associated with tau pathology in early Alzheimer's disease
Lucey BP, McCullough A, Landsness EC, Toedebusch CD, McLeland JS, Zaza AM, Fagan AM, McCue L et al.. Science translational medicine, 2019-01-01
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
In Alzheimer's disease (AD), deposition of insoluble amyloid-β (Aβ) is followed by intracellular aggregation of tau in the neocortex and subsequent neuronal cell loss, synaptic loss, brain atrophy, and cognitive impairment. By the time even the earliest clinical symptoms are detectable, Aβ accumulation is close to reaching its peak and neocortical tau pathology is frequently already present. The period in which AD pathology is accumulating in the absence of cognitive symptoms represents a clinically relevant time window for therapeutic intervention. Sleep is increasingly recognized as a potential marker for AD pathology and future risk of cognitive impairment. Previous studies in animal models and humans have associated decreased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep slow wave activity (SWA) with Aβ deposition. In this study, we analyzed cognitive performance, brain imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) AD biomarkers in participants enrolled in longitudinal studies of aging. In addition, we monitored their sleep using a single-channel electroencephalography (EEG) device worn on the forehead. After adjusting for multiple covariates such as age and sex, we found that NREM SWA showed an inverse relationship with AD pathology, particularly tauopathy, and that this association was most evident at the lowest frequencies of NREM SWA. Given that our study participants were predominantly cognitively normal, this suggested that changes in NREM SWA, especially at 1 to 2 Hz, might be able to discriminate tau pathology and cognitive impairment either before or at the earliest stages of symptomatic AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Lucey, B. P., McCullough, A., Landsness, E. C., Toedebusch, C. D., McLeland, J. S., Zaza, A. M., et al. (2019). Reduced non-rapid eye movement sleep is associated with tau pathology in early Alzheimer's disease. Science translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aau6550
Vancouver
Lucey BP, McCullough A, Landsness EC, Toedebusch CD, McLeland JS, Zaza AM, et al. Reduced non-rapid eye movement sleep is associated with tau pathology in early Alzheimer's disease. Science translational medicine. 2019. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aau6550. PMID: 30626715.
BibTeX
@article{lucey2019-30626715,
author = {Lucey, B. P. and McCullough, A. and Landsness, E. C. and Toedebusch, C. D. and McLeland, J. S. and Zaza, A. M. and Fagan, A. M. and McCue, L. and others},
title = {{Reduced non-rapid eye movement sleep is associated with tau pathology in early Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Science translational medicine},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1126/scitranslmed.aau6550},
pmid = {30626715},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aau6550}
}
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.
Key findings
- After adjusting for multiple covariates such as age and sex, we found that NREM SWA showed an inverse relationship with AD pathology, particularly tauopathy, and that this association was most evident at the lowest frequencies of NREM SWA.
- Given that our study participants were predominantly cognitively normal, this suggested that changes in NREM SWA, especially at 1 to 2 Hz, might be able to discriminate tau pathology and cognitive impairment either before or at the earliest stages of symptomatic AD.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Brain scans & tests →
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 53/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 31 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 53 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Science translational medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2019 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30626715) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 31 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 31 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 53 out of 100. |
| Total | 53 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related studies in Brain scans and imaging
Also tagged “apnea”
196 studies in the library carry the topic tag “apnea”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 196 tagged studies.