Effect of age on the relationship between sleep quality and cortical thickness: a HCP-A Study
Poster No:
2584
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Hyun Kim1, Elizabeth Rueppel2, Yisha Zhang2, Aren Tucker2, Maria Purcell2, Terry Goldberg1, Seonjoo Lee1
Institutions:
1Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 2New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
While the association between sleep quality and brain health is well established, the role of aging in this relationship is largely unknown. Understanding the interaction between sleep and age is especially important in brain aging and outcomes research, given that disease outcomes can be modified with age-related changes in brain structures and networks (Yagi et al., 2020). Therefore, this study employed a sample of adults across a wide age range and examined the interaction between sleep and age on cortical thickness. Age was examined in both linear and non-linear (quadratic) terms, in order to determine the presence of critical age ranges that may exhibit more significant sleep-related brain structural changes.
Methods:
Sample included 700 adults (mean age 59.63 [age range 36-90], 55.9% female) from the Human Connectome Project-Aging (HCP-A) database (Bookheimer et al., 2019). Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was obtained from T1-weighted structural images using a 3T scanner, and cortical thickness indices were derived using the FreeSurfer pipeline. The interaction between sleep and age on cortical thickness was tested using the moderation analysis using linear regression models, with sex, race, and use of sleep medication as covariates.
Results:
There was a significant interaction term between the PSQI and non-linear age term (age2) on the insular thickness (β=0.67, CI=0.03-1.30, p=.04), indicating that sleep quality may be associated with the structure of insula distinctly in different age groups. A visual examination of this relationship indicated that the insular thickness for individuals between the ages 53 and 78 was most sensitive to poor sleep quality.
·Association between Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and insular thickness by age. The relationship between PSQI and insular thickness is presented as the standardized regression coefficient.
Conclusions:
Age may have a significant role in the relationship between sleep and cortical thickness, particularly the insular thickness. As part of the salience network, the insula has been involved in crucial emotional and cognitive functioning and has been shown to be impacted by both sleep disorders and Alzheimer's disease (Wang et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2022; Menon et al., 2010). Therefore, the insula may be more significantly associated with sleep disturbance, particularly in the aging population. Our results also suggest that middle-aged and older adults may be most vulnerable to sleep-related changes in the brain structures.
Lifespan Development:
Aging 2
Perception, Attention and Motor Behavior:
Sleep and Wakefulness 1
Keywords:
Aging
Sleep
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Menon, V. et al. (2010), 'Saliency, switching, attention and control: a network model of insula function', Brain Structure and Function, vol. 214, pp. 655–67.
Wang, C. et al. (2021), 'Cortical Thinning and Abnormal Structural Covariance Network After Three Hours Sleep Restriction', Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12:664811.
Wang, Y. et al. (2022), 'Is the insula linked to sleep? A systematic review and narrative synthesis', Heliyon, vol. 8, no11, e11406.
Yagi, A. et al. (2020), 'The Role of Cognitive Control in Age-Related Changes in Well-Being', Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, vol. 12, 198.