Non-pharmacological improvement of sleep structure in older people

ABSTRACT
Poor sleep and memory problems are common in older adults and have considerable consequences
including decreased productivitydeclines in cognitive abilitiesincreased rate of accidents and traffic
fatalitiesand increased health care costsThese sleep and memory problems often occur in midlife and in
older adultswhen aging is associated with insomniafragmentation of sleepand impairment of attentionAging also impacts sleep stages and sleep depthwith marked changes in non rapid eye movementNREMsleepan increase in lighter NREM sleep stagesNor Nstage of sleepand a decrease in deep
orslow wavesleepNstage of sleepBecause deep sleep has been associated with the recuperative
function of sleepmemory consolidationand growth hormone releaseage related reduction in deep sleep
has a negative impact on physiologic restorationmemoryand overall healthThe overall objective of this
proposed research is to develop a non pharmacological means to address sleep deficiencies and wellbeing in older midlife adultsSeveral laboratory studies recently demonstrated that precisely deliveredspecific auditory stimulation in adults results in an enhancement of slow waves on the
electroencephalogramEEGand improvement in memorySince older adults have a significant reduction
in deep sleepincreasing slow wave production by precisely delivered auditory stimulation could be
particularly useful for this populationTo datethe use of auditory stimulation to improve sleep has been
limited to adult volunteers in laboratory settingsOur objective is to validatemodifyand improve the
application of specific auditory stimulation to increase deep sleep in older individualsand to develop a
system that can deliver slow wave sleep enhancement in the homeBoth healthy people and patients with
disturbances of sleep and memory could benefit from using this systemIt will be especially useful in older
peopleOur new system will be inexpensivesimple and easy to use