Midlife sleep characteristics and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers 20 years later
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Poor sleep characteristics are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) among older adults; however, this relationship remains underexplored earlier in life. We investigated how early midlife sleep relates to AD-related biomarkers in late midlife. METHODS: A total of 1325 adults (mean age = 40.3 years) self-reported sleep quality, sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, and insomnia symptoms. Twenty years later, we assessed plasma amyloid beta (Aβ)42/40, tau phosphorylated at threonine 217 (p-tau217), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived Spatial Pattern of Abnormality for Recognition of Early AD (SPARE-AD), characterizing AD-like brain atrophy. RESULTS: After multivariable adjustment, longer sleep duration was associated with lower Aβ42/40, poor sleep quality with higher NfL, daytime sleepiness with both lower Aβ42/40 and higher NfL, and insomnia symptoms with higher SPARE-AD. No associations were observed with sleep and p-tau217. DISCUSSION: Poor sleep in early midlife was associated with unfavorable AD biomarker levels 20 years later, supporting the idea of sleep as a potential modifiable AD risk factor.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
DOI: 10.1002/alz.71342
Institutions: Inserm, University of California, San Francisco, Université Paris Cité, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle, Centre de Recherche Épidémiologie et Statistique, Northwestern University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, UAB Medicine, San Francisco VA Medical Center, University of California San Francisco Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,200
Awards: G1000644980, G1586844134, G1732223801, G1879745488, G3017670077, G3064327431, Sleep Quality and Mechanistic Links to Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders among older Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites, G3114895611, G3931708253, G3976056932, G4134660577, G5240659570, G5348427392, G5435011327, G5671222836, G6025039942, G6403627, G662645278, G674475515, G7295477853, G7328697105, G7379922140, G7422092500, G7842515143, G7974859583, G8478215588, Lifecourse Predictors and Mechanisms of Early Clinical ADRD among Black and White Adults in their Sixties
OpenAlex ID: W7154268530