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How does the loss of sleep affect Alzheimer’s risk differently in males and females?
Nicole Gervais, Ph.D.
University of Groningen
Groningen, Netherlands
Background
According to many studies, individuals at risk of dementia experience sleep disruptions or poor sleep patterns. These patterns often precede cognitive (brain function) impairment or Alzheimer’s by several years. Researchers have found that poor sleep may reduce brain function by hindering the ability of brain cells to communicate with each other or by damaging certain brain structures. Studies also indicate that the increased risk of Alzheimer’s promoted by sleep loss may vary between men and women. Such discrepancy may be linked to menopause – and the resulting declines in estrogen hormones – in women. However, the exact roles of sleep loss in Alzheimer’s risk, and how sex impacts those roles, remain unclear.
Research Plan
Dr. Nicole Gervais and colleagues will devote their research grant to a study of sleep loss and dementia in male and female mice. They will test and examine mice that have been genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s-like brain changes. For their first experiment, the researchers will expose half of their mice to a procedure called a rotating wheel, which induces sleep loss. They will then analyze whether, compared with mice that sleep normally, the mice that lose sleep perform worse on tests of memory and show more damage to their brain cells. They will also assess whether these discrepancies are more pronounced in female or male mice. Next, Dr. Gervais and team will induce menopause in some of their female mice, in order to lower the animals’ estrogen levels. They will then expose the mice to poor sleep and assess whether loss of estrogen exacerbates the sleep-related increase in dementia risk. Lastly, the researchers will engineer mice that have been developed with reproductive organs of one sex and chromosomal genes of the opposite sex. After undergoing the same sleep loss and memory experiments, these animals will be examined and the results compared with those of other mice in the study. Findings from this experiment could reveal the role of certain genes, as well as hormones, in determining why sex may alter how sleep impacts dementia risk.
Impact
Dr. Gervais’ study could shed new light on a variety of mechanisms underlying the links between sleep and brain health. It could also promote the development of novel sleep-related therapies for preventing dementia in men and women.
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