Longitudinal trajectories of spectral power during sleep in middle-aged and older adults.

Abstract

Age-related changes in sleep appear to contribute to cognitive aging and dementia. However, most of the current understanding of sleep across the lifespan is based on cross-sectional evidence. Using data from the Sleep Heart Health Study, we investigated longitudinal changes in sleep micro-architecture, focusing on whether such age-related changes are experienced uniformly across individuals. Participants were 2,202 adults (ageBaseline=62.40±10.38, 55.36% female, 87.92% White) who completed home polysomnography assessment at two study visits, which were 5.23years apart (range: 4-7years). We analyzed NREM and REM spectral power density for each 0.5Hz frequency bin, including slow oscillation (0.5-1Hz), delta (1-4Hz), theta (4-8Hz), alpha (8-12Hz), sigma (12-15Hz), and beta-1 (15-20Hz) bands. Longitudinal comparisons showed a 5-year decline in NREM delta (p<.001) and NREM sigma power density (p<.001) as well as a 5-year increase in theta power density during NREM (p=.001) and power density for all frequency bands during REM sleep (ps<0.05). In contrast to the notion that sleep declines linearly with advancing age, longitudinal trajectories varied considerably across individuals. Within individuals, the 5-year changes in NREM and REM power density were strongly correlated (slow oscillation: r=0.46; delta: r=0.67; theta r=0.78; alpha r=0.66; sigma: r=0.71; beta-1: r=0.73; ps<0.001). The convergence in the longitudinal trajectories of NREM and REM activity may reflect age-related neural de-differentiation and/or compensation processes. Future research should investigate the neurocognitive implications of longitudinal changes in sleep micro-architecture and test whether interventions for improving key sleep micro-architecture features (such as NREM delta and sigma activity) also benefit cognition over time.