“Impaired sleep quality” and dementia

Eiko N. Minakawa¹⁾, Keiji Wada¹⁾, Yoshitaka Nagai¹⁾²⁾

^1）Department of Degenerative Neurological Diseases, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry
^2）Department of Neurotherapeutics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine

Sleep abnormality, especially “impaired sleep quality”, is prevalent among patients with various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease （AD）. Recent studies have led to the idea of a bidirectional relationship between AD and impaired sleep;in addition to the conventional concept that impaired sleep is a consequence of AD pathology, various evidence strongly suggests that impaired sleep is a risk factor for AD. Here we provide an overview of previous studies that linked AD and sleep, especially focusing on those including ours that tested the causal relationship between impaired sleep and AD. We will then discuss the mechanisms underlying this link, and propose future works towards disease modification and prevention of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases via mechanisms linked to impaired sleep.

Address correspondence to Dr. Eiko N. Minakawa, Department of Degenerative Neurological Diseases, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry（4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8502, Japan）