Publications by authors named "Rachelle L Pulver"
Introduction: Memory-associated neural circuits produce oscillatory events including theta bursts (TBs), sleep spindles (SPs), and slow waves (SWs) in sleep electroencephalography (EEG). Changes in the "coupling" of these events may indicate early Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis.
Methods: We analyzed 205 aging adults using single-channel sleep EEG, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) AD biomarkers, and Clinical Dementia Rating® (CDR®) scale.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the relationship between sleep neural circuits and early signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by analyzing sleep EEG patterns in aging adults.
- Data from 205 participants revealed that cognitive impairment correlates with reduced sleep oscillations (specifically, theta bursts and sleep spindles) and lower coupling precision between specific neural circuits.
- Findings suggest that disruptions in sleep-related memory processing circuits may signal the onset of AD, as these changes are linked to amyloid positivity and elevated levels of AD-related biomarkers.
Slow wave activity (SWA) during sleep is associated with synaptic regulation and memory processing functions. Each cycle of non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep demonstrates a waxing and waning amount of SWA during the transitions between stages N2 and N3 sleep, and the deeper N3 sleep is associated with an increased density of SWA. Further, SWA is an amalgam of different types of slow waves, each identifiable by their temporal coupling to spindle subtypes with distinct physiological features.
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