Weaker Circadian Activity Rhythms are Associated with Poorer Executive Function in Older Women

Walsh, Christine M.; Blackwell, Terri; Tranah, Gregory J.; Stone, Katie L.; Ancoli‐Israel, Sonia; Redline, Susan; Paudel, Misti L.; Kramer, Joel H.; Yaffe, Kristine

doi:10.5665/sleep.4260

Cited by 70 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These findings are the first to demonstrate that more consistent CARs are directly related to functioning of the hippocampus and that in turn is associated with successful memory performance in older individuals. This builds upon previous work illustrating that CARs are related to cognition (Tranah et al, 2011;Walsh et al, 2014), by demonstrating that memory-related brain activity in the hippocampus is an essential component of this relationship.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…More variability in the rest-activity cycle, known as the circadian activity rhythm (CAR), has been related to greater dementia severity (Gehrman et al, 2005) and higher mortality rates (Tranah et al, 2010). In longitudinal studies, older women who had more variable CARs were more likely to show cognitive decline 5 years later (Walsh et al, 2014), or in some cases, neurocognitive disorders such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia (Tranah et al, 2011). Since these studies included broad and often insensitive measures of cognition in very old women (80s) with health problems (Scullin and Bliwise, 2015) little is known about whether disrupted CARs in healthy older individuals contribute to lower memory function.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Hippocampal activity mediates the relationship between circadian activity rhythms and memory in older adults

2015

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Hippocampal activity mediates the relationship between circadian activity rhythms and memory in older adults

2015

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“…Small studies of emergency-room physicians and airline crews have dem-onstrated that circadian disruption and related sleep problems can lead to short-term decrements in cognitive function [12][13][14] ; however, it remains unclear whether these exposures are detrimental for the general population or whether they influence longer-term cognition. In older adults, initial studies suggest that aberrant circadian rhythms may be related to poorer cognition [15][16][17][18] and bright-light therapy may improve cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease [19] , further supporting a link between circadian disruption and later-life cognitive impairment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep Duration in Relation to Cognitive Function among Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies

2016

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Context: Increasing evidence suggests that circadian and sleep parameters influence cognitive function with aging. Objective: To evaluate observational studies of sleep duration and cognition in older adults. Data Sources: A systematic review of OVID Medline and PsycINFO through September 2015, and review of bibliographies from studies identified. Study Selection: English-language articles reporting observational studies of sleep duration and cognitive function in older populations. Data Extraction: Data extraction by 2 authors using predefined categories of desired information. Results: Thirty-two studies met our inclusion criteria, with nearly two-thirds published in the past 4 years. One-third of studies indicated that extreme sleep durations were associated with worse cognition in older adults. More studies favored an association with long vs. short sleep durations (35 vs. 26% of studies, respectively). Four studies found that greater changes in sleep duration over time were related to lower cognition. Study design and analytic methods were very heterogeneous across studies; therefore, meta-analysis was not undertaken. Limitations: We reviewed English-language manuscripts only, with a qualitative summary of studies identified. Conclusions and Implications of Key Findings: Observational studies of sleep duration and cognitive function in older adults have produced mixed results, with more studies suggesting that long (rather than short) sleep durations are related to worse cognition. Studies more consistently indicate that greater changes in sleep duration are associated with poor cognition. Future studies should be prospectively designed, with objective sleep assessment and longer follow-up periods; intervention studies are also needed to identify strategies for promoting cognitive health with aging.

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“…Interestingly, these measures vary by age with older adults performing better on cognitive tasks in the morning and getting worse throughout the day (12,13). In older women, there is a direct correlation between weak circadian activity rhythms and poorer executive function (14). In preclinical studies, mice trained in cortical-driven cognitive tasks show pronounced diurnal differences in performance (15)(16)(17).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of aging on circadian patterns of gene expression in the human prefrontal cortex

Chen

Logan

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

225

219

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With aging, significant changes in circadian rhythms occur, including a shift in phase toward a “morning” chronotype and a loss of rhythmicity in circulating hormones. However, the effects of aging on molecular rhythms in the human brain have remained elusive. Here, we used a previously described time-of-death analysis to identify transcripts throughout the genome that have a significant circadian rhythm in expression in the human prefrontal cortex [Brodmann’s area 11 (BA11) and BA47]. Expression levels were determined by microarray analysis in 146 individuals. Rhythmicity in expression was found in ∼10% of detected transcripts (P < 0.05). Using a metaanalysis across the two brain areas, we identified a core set of 235 genes (q < 0.05) with significant circadian rhythms of expression. These 235 genes showed 92% concordance in the phase of expression between the two areas. In addition to the canonical core circadian genes, a number of other genes were found to exhibit rhythmic expression in the brain. Notably, we identified more than 1,000 genes (1,186 in BA11; 1,591 in BA47) that exhibited age-dependent rhythmicity or alterations in rhythmicity patterns with aging. Interestingly, a set of transcripts gained rhythmicity in older individuals, which may represent a compensatory mechanism due to a loss of canonical clock function. Thus, we confirm that rhythmic gene expression can be reliably measured in human brain and identified for the first time (to our knowledge) significant changes in molecular rhythms with aging that may contribute to altered cognition, sleep, and mood in later life.

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Weaker Circadian Activity Rhythms are Associated with Poorer Executive Function in Older Women

Abstract: Weaker circadian activity rhythm patterns are associated with worse cognitive function, especially executive function, in older women without dementia. Further investigation is required to determine the etiology of these relationships.

Cited by 70 publications

References 42 publications

Hippocampal activity mediates the relationship between circadian activity rhythms and memory in older adults

Hippocampal activity mediates the relationship between circadian activity rhythms and memory in older adults

Sleep Duration in Relation to Cognitive Function among Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies

Effects of aging on circadian patterns of gene expression in the human prefrontal cortex

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