Fragmentation of the rest-activity rhythm correlates with age-related cognitive deficits.
Aging affects both cognitive performance and the sleep-wake rhythm. The recent surge of studies that support a role of sleep for cognitive performance in healthy young adults suggests that disturbed sleep-wake rhythms may contribute to 'age-related' cognitive decline. This relationship has however not previously been extensively investigated. The present correlational study integrated a battery of standardized cognitive tests to investigate the association of mental speed, memory, and executive function with actigraphically recorded sleep-wake rhythms in 144 home-dwelling elderly participants aged 69.5 +/- 8.5 (mean +/- SD). Multiple regression analyses showed that the partial correlations of the fragmentation of the sleep-wake rhythm with each of the three cognitive domains (r = -0.16, -0.19, and -0.16 respectively) were significant. These associations were independent from main effects of age, implying that a unique relationship between the rest-activity rhythm and cognitive performance is present in elderly people.
Oosterman
Joukje M
JM
Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. j.m.oosterman@uu.nl
van Someren
Eus J W
EJ
Vogels
Raymond L C
RL
Van Harten
Barbera
B
Scherder
Erik J A
EJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017286:Polysomnography; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013223:Statistics as Topic