Year: 2016
Type: review
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: INTRODUCTION: A recent increase in studies suggests a role of age-related sleep changes in executive functions (EF). However, this relationship remains unclear and mixed results have emerged. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how age-related sleep changes may play an important role in the extent to which healthy older adults exhibit decline in EF. METHODS: A systematic strategy was employed to identify the available literature on age-related sleep changes and EF. Results: Of the 465 studies identified, 26 were included. RESULTS: suggest that multiple sleep parameters differ in the way they benefit or impair EF. Parameters such as greater wake after sleep onset and lower sleep efficiency, in addition to circadian fragmentation of sleep, showed more consistent results and are potentially correlated with worsening in EF measures. However, other results seem inconclusive. CONCLUSION: These findings were discussed based on the prefrontal circuitry vulnerability model, in which sleep has been identified as a beneficial factor for prefrontal cortex functioning and hence for EF, which relies mostly on this brain area and its related networks.
Source: Dementia & Neuropsychologia
Institution: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Language: English
Topic: Sleep and related disorders
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2523861048