Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Suboptimal Self-Reported Sleep Efficiency And Duration Are Associated With Faster Accumulation Of Brain Amyloid Beta In Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults, Louise N. Pivac, Belinda M. Brown, Kelsey R. Sewell, James D. Doecke, Victor L. Villemagne, Vincent Doré, Michael Weinborn, Hamid R. Sohrabi, Samantha L. Gardener, Romola S. Bucks, Simon M. Laws, Kevin Taddei, Paul Maruff, Colin L. Masters, Christopher Rowe, Ralph N. Martins, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated whether self-reported sleep quality is associated with brain amyloid beta (AB) accumulation. METHODS: Linear mixed effect model analyses were conducted for 189 cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults (mean ± standard deviation 74.0 ± 6.2; 53.2% female), with baseline self-reported sleep data, and positron emission tomography-determined brain AB measured over a minimum of three time points (range 33.3–72.7 months). Analyses included random slopes and intercepts, interaction for apolipoprotein E (APOE) 4 allele status, and time, adjusting for sex and baseline age. RESULTS: Sleep duration < 6 hours, in APOE 4 carriers, and sleep efficiency < 65%, in the whole sample and APOE 4 non-carriers, is associated with faster accumulation of brain AB. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest a role for self-reported suboptimal sleep efficiency and duration in the accumulation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology in CU individuals. Additionally, poor sleep efficiency represents a potential route via which individuals at lower genetic risk may progress to preclinical AD. Highlights: In cognitively unimpaired older adults self-report sleep is associated with brain amyloid beta (AB) accumulation. Across sleep characteristics, this relationship differs by apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype. Sleep duration < 6 hours is associated with faster brain AB accumulation in APOE 4 carriers. Sleep efficiency < 65% is associated with faster brain AB accumulation in APOE 4 non-carriers. Personalized sleep interventions should be studied for potential to slow AB accumulation.