Poor sleep—particularly a deficit of deep, restorative slumber—is a channel through which the beta-amyloid protein believed to trigger Alzheimer’s disease attacks the brain’s long-term memory.
“Our findings reveal a new pathway through which Alzheimer’s disease may cause memory decline later in life,” said Matthew Walker professor of neuroscience at the University of California–Berkeley.
The good news about the findings is that poor sleep is potentially treatable and can be enhanced through exercise, behavioral therapy, and even electrical stimulation that amplifies brain waves during sleep, a technology that has been used successfully in young adults to increase their overnight memory.
