Sleep is related to neuron numbers in the ventrolateral preoptic/intermediate nucleus in older adults with and without Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT: Fragmented sleep is a common and troubling symptom in ageing and Alzheimer's disease; however, its neurobiological basis in many patients is unknown. In rodents, lesions of the hypothalamic ventrolateral preoptic nucleus cause fragmented sleep. We previously proposed that the intermediate nucleus in the human hypothalamus, which has a similar location and neurotransmitter profile, is the homologue of the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus, but physiological data in humans were lacking. We hypothesized that if the intermediate nucleus is important for human sleep, then intermediate nucleus cell loss may contribute to fragmentation and loss of sleep in ageing and Alzheimer's disease. We studied 45 older adults (mean age at death 89.2 years; 71% female; 12 with Alzheimer's disease) from the Rush

SUBMITTER: Lim AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4163039 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature