0721 Power Nap or Cognitive Trap? Role of Age in Associations Between Napping and Cognition

Abstract

Abstract Introduction How napping is associated with cognition is currently unclear with past work indicating napping benefits cognition for young adults and inconsistent findings regarding cognition in older adults. The present study improved upon previous literature by examining how age moderates associations between napping behaviors across a full week and both subjective and objective cognition across the adult lifespan. Methods Cognitively healthy adults aged 18-82 (N=134, Mage=41.43, SD=22.14, 115 females) completed assessments of napping habits across 7 days (naps per week, duration), and subjective cognition [Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) total, sub-scores of CFQ-memory, CFQ-distractibility, and CFQ-blunders]. A sub-set of participants (N=105) also completed objective cognitive tasks: Stroop (inhibition, attention, processing speed), Posner Cueing (attentional orienting), Sternberg (working memory), and Wisconsin Card Sorting (executive function). Multiple regression and Johnson-Neyman analyses evaluated the moderating impact of age on associations between napping and cognition, controlling for sex, anxiety and depression symptoms, and sleep and pain medication usage. Results Age moderated the relationship between nap duration and CFQ-total (R2-change=.02, p=.04), CFQ-memory (R2-change=.04, p=.01), and CFQ-blunders (R2-change=.06, p=.01). Specifically, longer nap duration was associated with fewer global cognitive complaints at age 20 and below (B=-.08, SE=.04, p=.049), more memory complaints at age 69 and above (B=.08, SE=.04, p=.05), as well as more blunder complaints at age 47 and above (B=.05, SE=.02, p=.048). Conclusion Findings suggest longer naps are associated with worse subjective cognition in older adults and better subjective cognition in younger adults. Similar patterns were not observed in middle-aged adults or for objective cognition. More work is needed to understand how the potential cognitive restorative impact of napping in younger adults may be disrupted in older adults. Given known associations between subjective cognition and future cognitive impairment, prospective studies should determine if napping is a key indicator of potential future cognitive decline in aging adults and explore underlying age-related mechanisms in this relationship such as systemic inflammation and changes in Support (if any) This work was supported by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation (NCT0282642; AASM Award #: 212-FP-19 PI: Curtis, a foundation of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine).