Is there an association between sleep changes with dementia and neurocognitive deficit in Alzheimer s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and impairment of other neurocognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by memory impairments and sleep changes. In fact, a week of poor sleep leads to an increase in another brain protein, poor sleep and a higher risk of accumulating beta-amyloid protein plaque in the brain, one of the cause of the disease so poor sleep is linked to Alzheimer s disease. Sleep is critical for long-term memory, beta-amyloid protein in the brain may interfere with sleep quality and long-term memory formation, and creating a vicious cycle. Changing sleep leads to higher levels of soluble beta amyloid, the protein that folds and forms the sticky plaques that kill brain cells and bog down information processing. Therefore, deep sleep consolidate memories and wake up feeling refreshed it lead have higher levels of the brain protein tau. Elevated tau is a sign of Alzheimer s disease and has been linked to brain damage and neurocognitive decline. In all people, toxins linked to memory loss, dementia, and other neurological disorders are produced in the brain during the day. Two such compounds are beta amyloid and tau protein. These are normally and automatically washed from the brain during sleep. But when allowed to build up, accumulations of beta amyloid and tau protein interfere with brain cell function, causing neurons to die. This can lead to memory loss including Alzheimer s dementia and other neurocognitive problems. Thus, clearing amyloid and protein from the brain during sleep is critical for brain health.