Sleep-disordered breathing and psychomotor vigilance in a community-based sample

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sleep Medicine
• Gerontology

Background:

• Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is common and linked to cognitive deficits.
• Previous studies may be biased by referral of severe cases.
• The association between SDB and vigilance across the full spectrum of severity in the general population is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between SDB and psychomotor vigilance performance.
• To examine this relationship in a large, community-based sample representing diverse SDB severity.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study using data from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort.
• Included 611 participants (265 women, 346 men) aged 35-74 years.
• Assessed SDB via polysomnography and psychomotor vigilance using a 10-minute task.

Main Results:

• A significant negative association was found between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and vigilance.
• Specifically, higher AHI correlated with more lapses and slower reaction times.
• These findings were independent of sex and BMI in participants aged 65 and older.

Conclusions:

• Community-based SDB is associated with impaired psychomotor vigilance.
• Older adults with SDB demonstrate poorer attention and reaction time.
• These results highlight the broad impact of SDB on cognitive function in aging populations.