The interaction between physical activity and sleep on cognitive function and brain beta-amyloid in older adults

Kelsey R Sewell; Stephanie R Rainey-Smith; Victor L Villemagne; Jeremiah Peiffer; Hamid R Sohrabi; Kevin Taddei; David Ames; Vincent Doré; Paul Maruff; Simon M Laws; Colin L Masters; Christopher C Rowe; Ralph N Martins; Kirk I Erickson; Belinda M Brown

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114108

The interaction between physical activity and sleep on cognitive function and brain beta-amyloid in older adults

Behav Brain Res. 2023 Feb 2:437:114108. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114108. Epub 2022 Sep 11.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia. Electronic address: Kelsey.sewell@murdoch.edu.au.
² Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Australian Alzheimer's Research Foundation, Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
³ School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Molecular Imaging & Therapy, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia.
⁵ Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Australian Alzheimer's Research Foundation, Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Australian Alzheimer's Research Foundation, Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
⁷ Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; National Ageing Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; University of Melbourne Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St George's Hospital, Kew, Victoria, Australia.
⁸ Department of Molecular Imaging & Therapy, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
⁹ Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Cogstate Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁰ Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Collaborative Genomics and Translation Group, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.
¹¹ Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
¹² Department of Molecular Imaging & Therapy, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia; Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
¹³ School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Australian Alzheimer's Research Foundation, Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
¹⁵ Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Australian Alzheimer's Research Foundation, Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

PMID: 36100010
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114108

Abstract

Background: Lifestyle factors such as physical activity and optimal sleep are associated with better cognition and lower levels of Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, including brain beta-amyloid (Aβ) burden.

Objective: We utilised cross-sectional data from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study to determine whether self-reported physical activity (measured via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire) moderates the relationship between self-reported sleep (measured via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), cognition, and brain Aβ.

Methods: Participants were 349 community-dwelling cognitively normal older adults (75.3 ± 5.7 years), all of whom underwent comprehensive cognitive assessment. Data from a subset of participants (n = 201) were used for analyses with brain Aβ burden (measured by positron emission tomography) as the outcome.

Result: Physical activity moderated the relationship between sleep duration and episodic memory (β = -0.10, SE =0.03, p = .005), and sleep efficiency and episodic memory (β = -0.09, SE =0.04, p = .011), such that greater amounts of physical activity mitigated the impact of suboptimal sleep duration and efficiency on episodic memory. Physical activity also moderated the relationship between sleep duration and brain Aβ (β = -0.13, SE =0.06, p = .031), and overall sleep quality and brain Aβ (β = 0.13, SE =0.06, p = .027).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that physical activity may play an important role in the relationship between sleep and cognitive function, and brain Aβ.

Keywords: Beta-amyloid; Cognitive function; Older adults; Physical activity; Sleep.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Alzheimer Disease* / diagnostic imaging
Alzheimer Disease* / metabolism
Alzheimer Disease* / physiopathology
Alzheimer Disease* / psychology
Amyloid beta-Peptides* / metabolism
Australia
Biomarkers
Brain* / diagnostic imaging
Brain* / metabolism
Cognition* / physiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise* / physiology
Humans
Independent Living
Neuropsychological Tests
Positron-Emission Tomography
Sleep* / physiology

Substances

Amyloid beta-Peptides
Biomarkers