Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Jul;16(3):554-568.
doi: 10.1007/s13311-019-00769-6.

Sleep as a Therapeutic Target in the Aging Brain

Thierno M Bah  1 , James Goodman  1 , Jeffrey J Iliff  2   3   4   5   6
Affiliations
Review

Sleep as a Therapeutic Target in the Aging Brain

Thierno M Bah et al. Neurotherapeutics. 2019 Jul.

Abstract

Sleep is a behavioral phenomenon conserved among mammals and some invertebrates, yet the biological functions of sleep are still being elucidated. In humans, sleep time becomes shorter, more fragmented, and of poorer quality with advancing age. Epidemiologically, the development of age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease is associated with pronounced sleep disruption, whereas emerging mechanistic studies suggest that sleep disruption may be causally linked to neurodegenerative pathology, suggesting that sleep may represent a key therapeutic target in the prevention of these conditions. In this review, we discuss the physiology of sleep, the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease, and the current literature supporting the relationship between sleep, aging, and neurodegenerative disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Sleep; aging; cognitive decline; dementia; treatment..

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

This study was not industry-supported and the authors declare that they have no financial conflicts of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Cirelli C, Tononi G. Is sleep essential? PLoS Biol. 2008;6:e216. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rosenwasser AM. Functional neuroanatomy of sleep and circadian rhythms. Brain Res Rev. 2009;61:281–306. - PubMed
    1. Scammell TE, Arrigoni E, Lipton JO. Neural circuitry of wakefulness and sleep. Neuron. 2017;93:747–765. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fuller PM, Gooley JJ, Saper CB. Neurobiology of the sleep-wake cycle: sleep architecture, circadian regulation, and regulatory feedback. J Biol Rhythm. 2006;21:482–493. - PubMed
    1. Berry RB, Brooks R, Gamaldo C, et al. AASM scoring manual updates for 2017 (Version 2.4) J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13:665–666. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types