Non-pharmacological improvement of sleep structure in older people

ABSTRACT Poor sleep and memory problems are common in older adults and have considerable consequences including decreased productivitydeclines in cognitive abilitiesincreased rate of accidents and traffic fatalitiesand increased health care costsThese sleep and memory problems often occur in midlife and in older adultswhen aging is associated with insomniafragmentation of sleepand impairment of attentionAging also impacts sleep stages and sleep depthwith marked changes in non rapid eye movementNREMsleepan increase in lighter NREM sleep stagesNor Nstage of sleepand a decrease in deep orslow wavesleepNstage of sleepBecause deep sleep has been associated with the recuperative function of sleepmemory consolidationand growth hormone releaseage related reduction in deep sleep has a negative impact on physiologic restorationmemoryand overall healthThe overall objective of this proposed research is to develop a non pharmacological means to address sleep deficiencies and wellbeing in older midlife adultsSeveral laboratory studies recently demonstrated that precisely deliveredspecific auditory stimulation in adults results in an enhancement of slow waves on the electroencephalogramEEGand improvement in memorySince older adults have a significant reduction in deep sleepincreasing slow wave production by precisely delivered auditory stimulation could be particularly useful for this populationTo datethe use of auditory stimulation to improve sleep has been limited to adult volunteers in laboratory settingsOur objective is to validatemodifyand improve the application of specific auditory stimulation to increase deep sleep in older individualsand to develop a system that can deliver slow wave sleep enhancement in the homeBoth healthy people and patients with disturbances of sleep and memory could benefit from using this systemIt will be especially useful in older peopleOur new system will be inexpensivesimple and easy to use