Credit score: CC0 Public Area
Obstructive sleep apnea, a situation that causes decrease oxygen ranges throughout sleep, is linked to degeneration of mind areas related to reminiscence by harm to the mind’s small blood vessels, based on a examine printed in Neurology. The examine discovered the mind adjustments have been strongly related to the severity of drops in oxygen ranges throughout fast eye motion (REM) sleep. The examine doesn’t show that sleep apnea causes this degeneration; it solely exhibits an affiliation.
Obstructive sleep apnea happens when throat muscle tissues loosen up throughout sleep, blocking the airway, inflicting an individual to get up repeatedly to breathe. This disrupted sleep sample can decrease oxygen ranges, which in flip can harm small blood vessels within the mind.
REM sleep is the stage when most desires happen and is related to quite a few essential features in sleep, together with reminiscence consolidation and processing of emotional experiences.
“Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that increases with age, and low oxygen levels during sleep can harm the ability of our brain and body to function properly,” mentioned examine creator Bryce A. Mander, Ph.D., of the College of California Irvine. “Our study found that low oxygen levels from obstructive sleep apnea, especially during REM sleep, may be linked to cognitive decline due to damage to the small blood vessels in the brain and the downstream impact of this damage on parts of the brain associated with memory.”
The examine included 37 folks with a median age of 73 who didn’t have cognitive impairment. They weren’t taking sleep drugs. Contributors had in a single day sleep research. Of the group, 24 folks had obstructive sleep apnea.
Researchers measured their oxygen ranges all through the night time throughout all phases of sleep, together with REM sleep.
Contributors had mind scans to measure mind construction.
Researchers discovered that decrease oxygen ranges throughout REM sleep have been related to larger ranges of white matter hyperintensities within the mind. White matter hyperintensities are vivid spots that seem on mind scans that are thought to mirror broken white matter tissue. This harm will be brought on by damage to small blood vessels within the mind.
Minimal blood oxygen saturation ranges throughout sleep and the overall time spent asleep beneath a blood oxygen stage of 90% predicted the quantity of whole white matter hyperintensities within the mind. Having a blood oxygen stage of 90% or decrease is trigger for concern.
Researchers additionally measured the quantity of the hippocampus and thickness of the entorhinal cortex, each of that are areas related to reminiscence. They discovered having extra white matter hyperintensities was linked to decreased quantity in addition to diminished thickness in these areas.
Contributors took a reminiscence take a look at earlier than and after sleep to find out sleep-dependent reminiscence. Researchers discovered that deficits in sleep-dependent reminiscence have been linked to diminished thickness of the entorhinal cortex.
“Taken together, our findings may partially explain how obstructive sleep apnea contributes to cognitive decline associated with aging and Alzheimer’s disease through the degeneration of brain regions that support memory consolidation during sleep,” mentioned Mander.
A limitation was that examine individuals have been primarily white and Asian folks, so outcomes will not be the identical for different populations.
Extra info:
Future E. Berisha et al, Affiliation of Hypoxemia Resulting from Obstructive Sleep Apnea With White Matter Hyperintensities and Temporal Lobe Modifications in Older Adults, Neurology (2025). DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000213639 www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213639
Offered by
American Academy of Neurology
Quotation:
Sleep apnea throughout REM sleep linked to memory-related mind adjustments (2025, Could 7)
retrieved 8 Could 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-05-apnea-rem-linked-memory-brain.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any honest dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for info functions solely.
