Targeting Slow Wave Sleep Deficiency in Late-Life Depression: A Case Series With Propofol.

ABSTRACT: Slow wave sleep (SWS), characterized by large electroencephalographic oscillations, facilitates crucial physiologic processes that maintain synaptic plasticity and overall brain health. Deficiency in older adults is associated with depression and cognitive dysfunction, such that enhancing sleep slow waves has emerged as a promising target for novel therapies. Enhancement of SWS has been noted after infusions of propofol, a commonly used anesthetic that induces electroencephalographic patterns resembling non-rapid eye movement sleep. This paper 1) reviews the scientific premise underlying the hypothesis that sleep slow waves are a novel therapeutic target for improving cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in older adults, and 2) presents a case series of two patients with late-life depression

SUBMITTER: Rios RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10544727 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature