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Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
Published on: January 26, 2019
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Does working memory improvement benefit from sleep in older adults?
Negin Sattari1, Lauren N Whitehurst2, Maryam Ahmadi1
1Department of Cognitive Science, University of California Irvine, CA, USA.
Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms
|June 26, 2019
Summary
Older adults improved working memory (WM) after a nap or quiet rest, linked to brain activity like slow oscillations. Sleep and rest periods facilitate WM gains in aging populations.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Sleep Science
- Aging Research
Background:
- Working Memory (WM) is crucial for higher cognitive functions but declines with age.
- While repetitive training can improve WM, the underlying mechanisms, especially concerning sleep, remain unclear in older adults.
- Age-related sleep decline raises questions about sleep's role in WM enhancement in this demographic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of a nap, quiet wakefulness (QW), and active wakefulness (AW) on within-day working memory training in older adults.
- To explore the electrophysiological correlates of working memory improvement following different offline periods.
- To determine if sleep facilitates working memory enhancement in older adults.
Main Methods:
- Older adults underwent within-day training on the Operation Span (OSPAN) task.
- Participants experienced three conditions: a nap, quiet wakefulness (QW), and active wakefulness (AW).
- Electrophysiological data, including slow oscillation (SO) and sigma band activity, were recorded and analyzed.
Main Results:
- Working memory (WM) improvement was observed after both a nap and quiet wakefulness (QW), but not active wakefulness (AW).
- Enhanced WM performance correlated with increased slow oscillation (SO) power in both nap and QW conditions.
- Greater coupling between SO and sigma oscillations during the nap condition was associated with better WM outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Working memory gains in older adults can occur opportunistically during offline periods, particularly those promoting enhanced slow oscillation (SO) power.
- Napping and quiet rest appear more beneficial for WM improvement in older adults than active wakefulness.
- Sleep, especially with cross-frequency coupling of neural oscillations, may offer further benefits for working memory enhancement in aging individuals.
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