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Study links Sleep, Memory Problems in Older
African-Americans
Newswise — A landmark study
led by North Carolina State University
researchers shows that African-American
seniors who have trouble falling asleep are
at higher risk of having memory problems –
raising the possibility that identifying and
treating sleep difficulties in the elderly
may help preserve their cognitive
functioning.
The study is the first to
examine the link between sleep and cognitive
functioning in older African-Americans.
The study, led by NC State
psychology Ph.D. student Alyssa A. Gamaldo,
shows that older African-Americans who
reported having trouble falling asleep
tended to do much worse on memory tests than
those study participants who did not have
trouble falling asleep.
Gamaldo says that the
difference was particularly apparent in
tests related to “working memory,” which is
the ability to multitask or do two things at
once.
The study examined 174
subjects between the ages of 65 and 90.
Gamaldo says the findings
raise additional questions, which will have
to be addressed in future research. For
example, Gamaldo says, “it is not clear if
lack of sleep is the issue. Is it the
quantity of sleep, the quality of sleep, or
something else altogether?”
The study raises questions
for future research on both sleep and
cognitive functioning in the elderly.
The findings indicate that
sleep may need to be accounted for as a
confounding variable in cognition studies
targeting seniors.
In addition, the findings
show that sleep research may need to
increase its focus on older adults in order
to fully explore the impacts of sleep
problems on cognition in seniors.
“If we can better understand
how sleep quantity, as well as quality,
influences general cognitive functioning,
perhaps we could better maintain memory
throughout life – including later in life,”
Gamaldo says.
The study, “The Relationship
Between Reported Problems Falling Asleep and
Cognition Among African American Elderly,”
will be published in the November issue of
Research on Aging.
The study’s co-authors are
Dr. Jason C. Allaire, assistant professor of
psychology at NC State, and Dr. Keith E.
Whitfield, professor of psychology and
neuroscience at Duke University.
The study abstract follows.
“The Relationship Between
Reported Problems Falling Asleep and
Cognition Among African American Elderly”
Authors: Alyssa A. Gamaldo, Dr. Jason C.
Allaire, North Carolina State University;
Dr. Keith E. Whitfield, Duke University
Published: November 2008 in Research on
Aging
Abstract: This study examined
the relationship between elders’ cognitive
performance and self-reported trouble
falling asleep. Analyses were conducted on
174 older independently living, community
dwelling African Americans (M age = 72.74;
range = 65 to 90). Cognitive performance was
measured using the Mini-Mental State
Examination, Forward Digit Span task,
Backward Digit Span task, Alpha Span task,
and California Verbal Learning Test. Results
suggested that individuals who reported
trouble falling asleep tended to perform
significantly worse than individuals who did
not report trouble falling asleep on
measures tapping short-term memory and
working memory after controlling for age,
education, gender, depression, and current
health. These results demonstrate that a
self-report of sleep difficulty may be a
unique predictor of cognitive performance.
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