Sleep Across the Lifespan: A Neurobehavioral Perspective

Abstract

Purpose of review: Sleep is dynamic across the lifespan, influenced by brain maturation, neurophysiology, hormones, and cognitive processes. Sleep behaviors influenced by physiological and external factors can also impact sleep health. As sleep plays a mechanistic role in health across the lifespan, understanding when and how to intervene to benefit health is essential.

Recent findings: Recent research has advanced our understanding of sleep across three domains: patterns, neurophysiology, and behaviors. Highlights include (1) Early childhood nap cessation is thought to relate to medial temporal lobe network maturation and underlie long-term hippocampal-dependent memory development. (2) Chronotype misalignment is a key factor in sleep deficits and social jetlag. (3) Older adult daytime sleep has complex effects on health, at times beneficial while others, potentially maladaptive. (4) Longitudinal sleep oscillation trajectories are starting to be investigated and indicate neurophysiology could be interpreted as indicative of brain maturation in development. (5) In adults, sleep quality and macrostructure trajectories show high variability, emphasizing distinctive traits in shaping sleep and its lifespan trajectories. (6) Neighborhood and socioeconomic factors influence sleep health across all ages. (7) In older adults, associations between loneliness and poor sleep are being unpacked.

Summary: This recent research, while comprehensively describing our current understanding of sleep trajectories across the lifespan, emphasizes the need to expand current approaches to longitudinal measurement studies that cross age-spans. Expanding will enhance our ability to mechanistically determine the temporal and causal relations between the multiple dimensions of sleep (i.e., patterns, behaviors, and physiology) and outcomes in sleep health.

Keywords: Development; Neurophysiology; Polysomnography; Sleep; Sleep behaviors; Sleep patterns.

Fig. 1

Sleep patterns, neurophysiology, and factors that impact behaviors are presented across the lifespan from development to older adulthood [14]. Sleep patterns include the natural cycle of wake and sleep over 24-hours, regulated by the circadian rhythm and neurobiological systems responsible for sleep/wake transitions. This panel demonstrates changes to circadian rhythms and consolidating sleep patterns with respect to hormone profiles and aging. Sleep neurophysiology includes the macro and microstructure characteristics of sleep across a night. Shown are the general changes of specific NREM sleep oscillations, slow wave activity and spindle density, across the lifespan. The last panel shows external factors that influence sleep behaviors and resulting quality of sleep across the lifespan