Deep, Peaceful Sleep in Early Life may Prevent Alzheimer's

Deep sleep in early life may protect you against Alzheimer's, a progressive brain disease for which no treatment currently exists, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Current Biology. The brain cleanses itself during deep sleep, so there may be the possibility to turn back the clock by getting deeper, restorative sleep earlier in life, say researchers from the University of California-Berkeley in the US.

Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley, studied the overnight sleep quality of 32 healthy older adults against the build-up in their brains of the toxic plaque called beta-amyloid, a key player in the Alzheimer's onset and progression.

Each participant underwent polysomnography to assess the brain waves, blood-oxygen levels, heart rate, and other physiological criteria of sleep quality.

The findings showed that the participants who experienced less non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep and more fragmented sleep were most likely to show an increase in beta-amyloid over the course of the study.

"If deep, restorative sleep could slow down this disease, we should be making it a major priority," the author said.

Source-Medindia