Abstract

Sleep disturbances are associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology and cognitive symptoms, but longitudinal studies exploring sleep, AD biomarkers, and cognition are limited. Understanding changes in sleep among older adults with and without AD pathology is crucial for appropriately designing longitudinal studies of aging and AD. To assess this, sleep was longitudinally assessed (over ~3.5 years) in amyloid-negative and amyloid-positive older adults using self-reported logs, questionnaires, and at-home monitoring with a single-channel electroencephalography (EEG) device. Amyloid imaging and cognitive assessments were also performed. Test-retest reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients, and power analysis determined sample sizes for longitudinal observational studies. In both amyloid groups, EEG spectral power measures demonstrated the highest test-retest reliability, followed by EEG-derived sleep staging and duration then self-reported measures. Spectral power required the smallest sample size to detect changes over time. These results indicate that objective EEG measures provide the most reliable longitudinal data for studying sleep and AD, aiding future study designs.

Committee Chair

Brian Gordon

Committee Members

Brendan Lucey Rebecca Cox

Degree

Master of Arts (AM/MA)

Author's Department

Psychology

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-2025

Language

English (en)

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Psychology Commons

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