Deep Sleep Brain Waves Offer Protection Against Alzheimer's Disease, New Research Shows

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Science Desk

In a new study published in the journal Neurology , a team of scientists explores the associations between particular kinds of electrical activity that occur during deep sleep, a peptide neurotransmitter called orexin, and the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Perhaps orexin drugs could help in Alzheimer's treatment; perhaps they could indirectly help the brain clear amyloid beta and tau proteins, which, according to lab animal experiments and human observational studies, tend to accumulate in the brain more when sleep is disrupted.

Still, participants with relatively 'stronger' activity in the sleep spindle and slow oscillation department showed a weaker association between higher orexin and worse outcomes. It also interprets the long-term results according to just that one overnight sleep study and the single CSF sample taken the next morning, which is not ideal.

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In a new study published in the journal Neurology , a team of scientists explores the associations between particular kinds of electrical activity that occur during deep sleep, a peptide neurotransmitter called…
Perhaps orexin drugs could help in Alzheimer's treatment; perhaps they could indirectly help the brain clear amyloid beta and tau proteins, which, according to lab animal experiments and human observational studies,…
Still, participants with relatively 'stronger' activity in the sleep spindle and slow oscillation department showed a weaker association between higher orexin and worse outcomes.
It also interprets the long-term results according to just that one overnight sleep study and the single CSF sample taken the next morning, which is not ideal.

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