Area:
Memory, sleep, aging
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High-probability grants
According to our matching algorithm, Kristine A. Wilckens is the likely recipient of the following grants.
Years |
Recipients |
Code |
Title / Keywords |
Matching score |
2016 — 2020 |
Wilckens, Kristine Ann |
K01Activity Code Description: For support of a scientist, committed to research, in need of both advanced research training and additional experience. |
Slow-Wave Sleep and Executive Network Function in Older Adults @ University of Pittsburgh At Pittsburgh
? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cognitive impairments affect up to 36% of the population over age 65 and determine whether an individual may live independently and work competently in older adulthood. After 65, the incidence of dementia increases exponentially. Identifying modifiable contributors to cognitive impairment and inexpensive, safe ways to mitigate cognitive deficits are critical priorities for research and clinical practice. Deficits in cognition are paralleled by changes in sleep in older adulthood. Existing research demonstrates severe consequences of sleep loss on cognition and brain function in young adults. This raises the question of whether sleep deficits common in aging contribute to cognitive deficits prevalent in older adulthood. Cognitive processes that decline with age and depend on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), i.e. executive functions, are most sensitive to individual differences sleep efficiency and sleep depth. Paradoxically, habitual total sleep time is rarely associated with executive function in older adults. In fact, very long total sleep time is commonly associated with poorer cognition and general health. Consequently, sleep restriction does not negatively affect cognition in older adults to the same extent as young adults. This raises the question of whether deeper, more consolidated sleep is better for older adults. There may be a moderate ideal sleep range that optimizes sleep depth to optimize cognition and brain function in older adults. The aim of the proposed study is to behaviorally increase physiological measures of sleep depth (non-REM slow-wave activity) in older adults through time-in-bed restriction, to examine its positive effects on executive function and corresponding functional brain network connectivity. This study's focus is to determine whether effects of sleep depth are greatest for executive functions and corresponding networks. This study will pinpoint systems-level pathways through which sleep promotes cognitive fitness. Broadly, it will contribute to our future development of sleep interventions to improve cognition and our understanding of modifiable health factors that promote cognitive fitness and brain health.
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1 |
2021 |
Wilckens, Kristine Ann |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Slow-Wave Sleep Enhancement in Those At Risk For Alzheimer's Disease: Links With Memory, Excitotoxicity, and Plasma a-Beta @ University of Pittsburgh At Pittsburgh
Dementia caused by Alzheimer?s disease affects approximately 5.6M adults over age 65, with costs expected to rise from $307B to $1.5T over the next 30 years. Behavioral interventions have shown promise for mitigating neurodegeneration and cognitive impairments. Sleep is a modifiable health behavior that is critical for cognition and deteriorates with advancing age and Alzheimer?s disease. Thus, it is a priority to examine whether improving sleep modifies Alzheimer?s disease pathophysiology and cognitive function. Our research suggests that deeper, more consolidated sleep is positively associated with memory and executive functions and networks that underlie these processes. Our preliminary studies confirm that time-in-bed restriction interventions increase sleep efficiency and non-rapid eye movement slow-wave activity (SWA) and suggest that increases in SWA are associated with improved cognitive function. SWA reflects synaptic downscaling predominantly among prefrontal connections. Downscaling of prefrontal connections with the hippocampus during sleep may help to preserve the long-range connections that support memory and cognitive function. In pre-clinical Alzheimer?s disease, hyperactivation of the hippocampus is thought to be excitotoxic and is shown to leave neurons vulnerable to further A? deposition. Synaptic downscaling through SWA may mitigate the progression of Alzheimer?s disease through these pathways. The proposed study will behaviorally increase sleep depth (SWA) through four weeks of time-in-bed restriction in older adults characterized on A? deposition and multiple factors associated with Alzheimer?s disease risk. We will examine whether behaviorally enhanced SWA reduces hippocampal hyperactivation, leading to improved task-related prefrontal-hippocampal connectivity, plasma A? levels, and cognitive function. This research addresses whether a simple, feasible, and scalable behavioral sleep intervention improves functional neuroimaging indices of excitotoxicity, Alzheimer?s pathophysiology, and cognitive performance.
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1 |