summary: The REFRESH-NOW study will investigate the impact of sleep duration and irregularities on cognitive function in women over 55. Using activity trackers and smartphone apps, researchers aim to understand how sleep disorders affect the development of dementia.
This longitudinal study will collect sleep data over a three-year period to identify risk factors for sleep-related cognitive decline, which may lead to interventions to improve cognitive function in women.
Key Facts:
- Target Group: Women over 55 will have their sleep patterns and cognitive health monitored.
- Data collection: Use an activity tracker and mobile app to get real long-term data.
- Research Objective: Identify sleep-related risk factors for dementia and design preventive interventions.
sauce: The Scripps Research Institute
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, currently affects twice as many women as men, and is projected to grow most dramatically among minority populations in the coming years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sleep disturbances in dementia are well known but have traditionally been explained as a consequence of the disease rather than a cause, but there is now growing evidence that sleep disturbances are involved in the development of dementia.
To better understand the relationship between women’s sleep and cognition, scientists at Scripps Research Institute’s Digital Exam Center launched the Women’s Sleep Health – Research Framework for Neurocognitive Outcomes (REFRESH-NOW) study.
The study aimed to assess the impact of sleep duration and sleep irregularity on neurocognition in women aged 55 years and older through data collected through activity trackers and smartphone applications.
Led by Stuti Jaiswal, MD, a physician-scientist specializing in sleep research, REFRESH-NOW will use wrist-worn activity trackers and smartwatches to collect longitudinal sleep data over a three-year period.
“Wearables have the potential to revolutionize sleep research. While polysomnography is generally considered the gold standard for measuring sleep, it only provides a snapshot of a person’s sleep characteristics based on data collected over one night in a sleep lab,” Jaiswal says.
“This tool requires people to be hooked up to various wires and sensors in a sleep lab, which is not a person’s natural sleep environment. Commercially available activity trackers, on the other hand, collect data passively, making it very easy for people to take part in a sleep study from the comfort of their own home and share real-world data with researchers over months or even years.”
The study will use the MyDataHelps mobile app-based platform, which allows participants to sync their activity trackers or smartwatches to share anonymized data such as sleep duration, sleep variability, wake frequency, etc. Participants who do not own their own device may be eligible to receive a device free of charge through the study.
Scientists will also collect information related to sleep habits, risk of sleep apnea and decision-making through questionnaires available through the app. Participants will be invited to take part in a home cognitive battery assessment at multiple intervals, designed to help the research team better understand participants’ cognitive status and functioning.
By identifying sleep-related risk factors for cognitive decline, researchers hope to devise interventions to improve cognitive performance in women.
Participants who wish to participate in REFRESH-NOW must be enrolled in the parent study, REFRESH, which is for both men and women. Enrollment in REFRESH-NOW is open to women aged 55 years or older who reside in the United States.
Learn more Visit refresh.scripps.edu/now.
About this research news on sleep and cognition
author: Scripps Research Institute Public Relations Office
sauce: The Scripps Research Institute
contact: Scripps Research Institute Press Office – Scripps Research Institute
image: Image courtesy of Neuroscience News
