“`html
June marks Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month — a moment to ponder the significance of cognitive health and recognize the risk elements linked to progressive disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
As per the Alzheimer’s Association, over 7 million individuals in the United States are living with the condition. By 2050, this figure is expected to escalate to approximately 13 million. The disease is distinguished by the accumulation of abnormal protein clusters in the brain, which can ultimately lead to heightened challenges with memory, cognition, and daily tasks.
At Florida State University, Aaron Wilber, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, specializes in sleep-associated brain function in connection to Alzheimer’s disease. A significant aspect of his work involves exploring the link between sleep and the clearance of protein aggregates associated with the condition.
One of the systems investigated at the Wilber Lab is the glymphatic system, which might eliminate waste materials like protein aggregates during sleep. The Wilber Lab, situated within FSU’s psychology department, conducts research aimed at comprehending how humans orient themselves in space to navigate their surroundings and what occurs when this system malfunctions.
By examining the impact of sleep in relation to Alzheimer’s disease, Wilber is addressing an area of study that is gaining prominence.
“Sleep is starting to receive the recognition it warrants,” Wilber stated. “The National Institutes of Health has pinpointed this as a crucial research area concerning Alzheimer’s disease. Patterns of brain activity related to memory during sleep remain relatively under-explored. In 2014, I was among the first, if not the first, to begin exploring this in rodents. There are now a few other laboratories that have begun to engage with this line of inquiry, which I believe requires more focus.”
For media inquiries regarding Wilber’s research and expertise on Alzheimer’s disease, please reach out at [email protected].
Aaron Wilber, associate professor, Florida State University Department of Psychology
In your ongoing research about sleep-related brain function in Alzheimer’s disease, what are some of the most significant discoveries you’ve made?
“A defining characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is protein aggregation. One of the first challenges individuals face, typically prior to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, is frequently becoming disoriented in unfamiliar environments. We studied mice simulating the protein clustering observed in human AD that displayed minimal aggregation and had just begun to show subtle difficulties associated with getting lost in new locations. We understand that both regular individuals and mice exhibit activity patterns that ‘replay’ during sleep, seemingly reflecting experiences they encountered while awake. These replayed actions occur at an accelerated pace, up to 20 times faster than during wakefulness. This rapid playback appears to be a mechanism the brain employs to forge connections between neurons that embody our memories.
“In these mice modeling protein aggregation, we analyzed activity patterns throughout sleep. We discovered that these mice had relatively preserved patterns of activity within a specific brain region; however, the synchronization of these events across different brain regions was compromised. In typical mice, the strength of cross-region coupling correlated with learning and memory the following day, but in mice with protein aggregates, this association was disrupted. Various aspects of memories are believed to be stored in different brain regions. For instance, recalling the visual, gustatory, olfactory, and locational details of where you had breakfast today may necessitate binding this information across several brain areas. Consequently, our findings suggest that one of the initial changes regarding memory in individuals who will develop Alzheimer’s may not be the memory of individual components, but rather the integration of memory aspects to create a unified representation of that memory.”
The notion of a restful night’s sleep appears to offer more beneficial health effects than previously acknowledged several years ago. Has your research connected irregular sleep patterns to potential cognitive decline that could possibly lead to Alzheimer’s disease?
“Our second area of research on Alzheimer’s disease is more concentrated on sleep. This is precisely what we are attempting to accomplish now — linking subtle sleep disturbances to forthcoming cognitive impairments, but we have not yet reached that milestone. We have identified what seems to be a very subtle indicator of dysfunctional sleep that emerges at a similar point to the above description when minor cognitive changes have just begun to manifest. We have detected this shift in three distinct rodents modeling features of human AD (both rats and mice) and can discern it with merely two hours or 24 hours’ worth of sleep recordings. Another laboratory has also recognized the same marker in a different (fourth) rodent model of AD. Moreover, there is evidence suggesting this marker is also present in humans who will develop AD. This sleep marker indicates that sleep is ‘too superficial’ at this preliminary stage.”
The post Florida State University expert available to discuss research related to Alzheimer’s disease appeared first on Florida State University News.
“`