Sleep patterns may help identify people at greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease at an earlier stage, according to a study by researchers at the University of Liège (ULiège) supported by the Stop Alzheimer Foundation.
The GIGA Neurosciences team at ULiège analysed the sleep patterns of more than 500 healthy people, mainly young adults aged 18 to 31, as well as participants aged 50 to 69.
At the same time, the researchers estimated each participant’s polygenic risk, measuring the combined influence of several genetic factors linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Among the older participants, a higher number of brief night-time micro-awakenings was associated with a greater genetic risk of developing the disease. No such link was found in the younger group.
These micro-awakenings are short bursts of brain activity that do not fully wake the sleeper but can still disrupt sleep quality.
The researchers also focused on the locus coeruleus, a brainstem region about the size of a grain of rice that plays a role in wakefulness, attention and sleep regulation.
The area is of particular interest because it is one of the first parts of the brain where abnormal protein deposits associated with Alzheimer’s disease can appear.
According to the Liège team, sleep analysis could eventually complement existing tools used to identify vulnerable people before the first symptoms emerge.
Improving sleep quality could also offer a possible route for prevention in some people with a predisposition to the disease.
However, the researchers stressed that their findings show statistical associations only and cannot predict, at an individual level, who will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was published in the scientific journal Sleep.
Alzheimer’s disease affects about 220,000 people in Belgium.
