Effect of Therapeutic Light on Sleep, Circadian Rhythm, and Global Function in Women With Alzheimer's
| Status: | Completed |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Alzheimer Disease |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Neurology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 65 - Any |
| Updated: | 4/21/2016 |
| Start Date: | May 2012 |
| End Date: | January 2016 |
A Study to Examine the Effect of Therapeutic Light on Sleep, Circadian Rhythm, and Global Function in Women With Alzheimer's Disease
Determine effect and duration of effect of timed therapeutic light compared to control light
on parameters of circadian rhythmicity, physiologic plasticity, sleep, and global function
in women with Alzheimer's Disease.
on parameters of circadian rhythmicity, physiologic plasticity, sleep, and global function
in women with Alzheimer's Disease.
The impact of disturbed sleep on cognition and functional domains is vitally important to
study in order to increase our understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) phenomenology.
Research has shown that the severity of sleep disturbance and dementia advance in parallel
and possibly in a manner amenable to therapeutic intervention. In AD, sleep disruption is
characterized by changes in sleep architecture. It is our contention that neuropathology
specific to AD alters the circadian system at the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
Environmental light is the most powerful regulator of this circadian system,4,5 and is known
to have a significant regulatory effect on pineal melatonin synthesis and secretion via the
SCN and multisynaptic pathways downstream from the SCN. This study will explore further the
efficacy of a particular type of therapeutic light intervention in regulating the circadian
system in AD, using data analytic methods capable of detecting changes at multiple time
scales. Our central hypothesis is that properly-timed light exposure in individuals with AD
will synchronize disorganized circadian and sleep-wake rhythms and improve functional
plasticity [approximate entropy (ApEn), fractal dimension (FD)], thereby resulting in
increased sleep efficiency (SE), reductions in sleep fragmentation (SF), reduced excessive
daytime sleepiness (EDS) and dementia-related behaviors, and improvements in cognition and
other daytime behaviors. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop AD due to longer
life expectance and emerging evidence. In light of this increased risk and also to enhance
other aspects of biological uniformity in our study, this project will investigate women
with AD.
study in order to increase our understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) phenomenology.
Research has shown that the severity of sleep disturbance and dementia advance in parallel
and possibly in a manner amenable to therapeutic intervention. In AD, sleep disruption is
characterized by changes in sleep architecture. It is our contention that neuropathology
specific to AD alters the circadian system at the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
Environmental light is the most powerful regulator of this circadian system,4,5 and is known
to have a significant regulatory effect on pineal melatonin synthesis and secretion via the
SCN and multisynaptic pathways downstream from the SCN. This study will explore further the
efficacy of a particular type of therapeutic light intervention in regulating the circadian
system in AD, using data analytic methods capable of detecting changes at multiple time
scales. Our central hypothesis is that properly-timed light exposure in individuals with AD
will synchronize disorganized circadian and sleep-wake rhythms and improve functional
plasticity [approximate entropy (ApEn), fractal dimension (FD)], thereby resulting in
increased sleep efficiency (SE), reductions in sleep fragmentation (SF), reduced excessive
daytime sleepiness (EDS) and dementia-related behaviors, and improvements in cognition and
other daytime behaviors. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop AD due to longer
life expectance and emerging evidence. In light of this increased risk and also to enhance
other aspects of biological uniformity in our study, this project will investigate women
with AD.
Inclusion Criteria:
1. baseline sleep efficiency index < .85
2. Mini-Mental State Exam-2 Standard Version (MMSE-2:SV) score of 0-20
3. be medically stable
Exclusion Criteria:
1. received light treatment in last 3 months
2. are totally blind in both eyes, have photosensitivity or photophobia, Parkinsons
disease, known untreated sleep apnea or other sleep disorders, seizure disorder,
bipolar, schizophrenia, are actively receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy for
cancer.
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