Anomalies in sleep pattern and executive functions in asymptomatic offspring of patients with late-onset Alzheimer´s Disease

CAROLINA ABULAFIA; BÁRBARA DUARTE-ABRITTA; MIRTA F. VILLARREAL; MARÍA S. LADRÓN DE GUEVARA; GUSTAVO SEVLEVER; LETICIA FIORENTINI; SALVADOR M. GUINJOAN; DANIEL E. VIGO

Simposio; XIV Latin American Symposium on Chronobiology 2017; 2017

Introduction: Early neuropathological changes of late-onset Alzheimer´s disease (LOAD) involve autonomic impairment including alterations of the sleep-wake rhythm. Indeed, anomalies in sleep pattern are emerging as a potential biomarker of the disease. It is also well documented the association between such alterations and decreased performance on executive function tasks. We hypothesized that asymptomatic offspring of patients with LOAD would display circadian rhythm abnormalities along with some degree of executive impairmentbefore the onset of the disease. Objective: An exploratory study was conducted with 35 asymptomatic middleaged offspring of patients with LOAD (OLOAD) and 31 healthy individuals without family history of AD (CS). Methods: Measures of sleep-wake rhythm by actigraphy, circadian rhythm of body temperature and circadian heart rate variability were collected. The following executive functions were assessed: cognitive flexibility (TMT-B), abstract reasoning (WAIS-III Similarities), planning and problem-solving (Tower of London) andverbal (Verbal Fluency) and nonverbal (Design Fluency) productivity. Group comparison (T-test) showed OLOAD exhibits greater sleep duration (474±11m vs. 439±9m, p=0.018) but lower sleep efficiency than CS (96.7±0.5% vs. 97.1±0.4%, p=0.042). No other significant differences were found for HRV, temperature orexecutive function measures. Significant correlations between executive functions and circadian parameters were observed both in OLOAD and CS, however, no differential patterns between groups could be discerned. Conclusions: The present results support the existing evidence of sleep pattern as a potential early marker in LOAD, already present in young asymptomatic at-risk individuals with no signs of cognitive decline.