New study aims to examine how sleep patterns affect neurocognition in older women

Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia, currently affects twice as many women as men, with minority populations predicted to witness the most significant increase in cases in the coming years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Disturbances in sleep are well-known in dementia but have previously been explained as an outcome of the disease, not the cause. Increasing evidence, however, now implicates sleep disturbances with the development of dementia.

In a bid to better understand the relationship between sleep and cognitive outcomes in women, scientists at the Scripps Research Digital Trials Center have launched the Research Framework for Sleep Health - Neurocognitive Outcomes in Women (REFRESH-NOW) study. The study aims to assess the impact of sleep duration and sleep irregularity on neurocognition in women who are 55 years of age or older through data collected via activity trackers and a smartphone application.

Led by Stuti Jaiswal, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist specializing in sleep research, REFRESH-NOW will use wrist-worn activity trackers and smartwatches to gather longitudinal sleep data over a three year period.

Wearables have the potential to revolutionize sleep research. While polysomnography is generally regarded as the gold standard for gathering sleep measurements, it only provides a snapshot of a person's sleep characteristics based on data collected during a night spent in a sleep laboratory. That tool requires a person be hooked up to many different wires and sensors in a sleep laboratory, which is not a person's natural sleep environment. On the other hand, commercially available activity trackers collect data passively making it very simple for people to participate in sleep research from the comfort of their own home and to share real-world data with researchers over months or even years."

Stuti Jaiswal, MD, PhD, physician-scientist specializing in sleep research

The study will use the MyDataHelps mobile app-based platform, which allows participants to sync their activity tracker or smartwatch to share de-identified data such as sleep duration, sleep variability measures, frequency of awakenings and more. Participants who do not own their own device may be eligible to receive a free one through the study.

Scientists will also gather information related to sleep habits, sleep apnea risk and decision-making through surveys available via the app. At multiple intervals, participants will be invited to take part in an at-home cognitive battery assessment designed to allow the study team to gain a better understanding of the participant's cognitive state and function.

By identifying sleep-related risk factors for cognitive decline, researchers hope to design interventions to improve cognitive outcomes in women.

Participants interested in joining REFRESH-NOW, must enroll in the parent study-;REFRESH-;which is open to both men and women. Enrollment in REFRESH-NOW is open to women who are 55 or older and living in the U.S.