With aging the amount of slow wave sleep decreases drastically and this disruption is markedly exaggerated in older adults suffering from mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Critically, the disruption of slow wave sleep and cognitive decline seem bidirectionally linked forming a vicious cycle. In the long run, improving slow wave sleep might be a useful intervention tool to delay the onset of cognitive decline. The present study aims at improving slow wave sleep and memory functions through a closed-loop acoustic stimulation approach. A closed-loop algorithm is used that detects slow waves in the electroencephalogram and is programmed to present short tones (50 ms) in the rhythm of these waves. This procedure has shown to boost both slow wave sleep as well as memory performance, mainly in young adults and when applied for one night. Here, the investigators apply tones via multiple consecutive nights and assess memory performance during this 3-night intervention.
Age range
60 Years – 85 Years
Sex
ALL
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Change from baseline episodic memory performance after three nights of intervention
Timeframe: The change in memory performance will be assessed between the baseline measurement (evening before the first intervention night) and on the morning of the last intervention night (1 hour after waking), 3 days after initial encoding
Change from baseline performance in computer-based verbal new learning task (episodic memory) after three nights of intervention
Timeframe: The change in new learning performance will be assessed between the baseline measurement (morning before the first intervention night) and on the morning of the last intervention night (1.5 hour after waking), 3 days after.