Chemical Triggers of Memory Loss

Research published this month in The Journal of Neuroscience has revealed some of the chemical triggers that mediate memory loss related to sleep deprivation. The researchers looked at the role of the nucleoside adenosine in the hippocampus, the center of the brain that directs the function of memory.

Sleep deprivation has long been known to cause an increase in adenosine, an effect common in all animals from arthropods to vertebrates, including humans. Now there is growing evidence that this nucleoside is the source of memory deficits that result from sleep deprivation.

Researchers tested the role of adenosine using two parallel experiments on sleep-deprived mice. In one experiment they used genetically engineered mice that were altered so they could not produce adenosine. In another experiment, researchers used a chemical pump that blocked an adenosine receptor in the hippocampus. Both of these experiments were designed to test whether adenosine was the key factor in sleep deprivation-related memory defects.

In both cases, the mice did not show memory deficits following sleep deprivation. The mice were able to recognize that a box had been moved in their environment, as opposed to the mice without adenosine blocking, who were all unable to identify what part of their environment had been changed from the prior day. These mice also stood up to an electrical measurement of their memory-forming synapses, showing objectively that they were unaffected by the loss of sleep.

In the future it is possible that this research will lead to us blocking the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation, but it is unlikely that it will help prevent some of the physiologic dangers of sleep apnea, such as coronary artery disease (CAD). Avoiding these consequences will still depend on successful sleep apnea treatment.

To learn more about your sleep apnea treatment options, please contact a local sleep dentist today.

TREATMENT OF OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA BOOSTS MEMORY

Treatment of sleep apnea helps restore memory consolidation in adults with obstructive sleep apnea. The report was done with CPAP but similar results are should be expected with Oral Appliancs as well.

The study results indicated that patients treated with CPAP outperformed untreated OSA patients on overnight picture memory consolidation tasks. This suggests that CPAP is effective at recouping memory abilities that are impaired by OSA. The treated patients correctly identified more photographs after one night of sleep. I expect that similar rsults will be shown with Oral Appliance Therapy.

CPAP while effective is poorly tolerated by most patients unlike Oral Appliances that patients prefer.

"The most surprising result of our study, thus far, is the noticeable improvement in memory that CPAP patients experience," according to author Ammar Tahir of the Memory Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. "These results suggest the success of CPent of psychologyAP therapy in regenerating obstructive sleep apnea patients' memory deficits."

An intriguing discovery that obstructive sleep apnea patients utilizing CPAP therapy performed better on the memory task than a control group. The control group did not have OSA but may have had milder forms of airway resistance. This important finding could provide direction for future research to study the effect of diminished airwayon brain function and memory processes. Treatment with CPAP and oral appliances should be considered for even mild airway problems in my view.

It has long been known that tonsils and snoring were associated with lower school performance in children.This study looked at 113 adult patients between the ages of 33 and 65 years who were divided into three groups. The experimental group had used CPAP for at least three weeks. The baseline group were diagnosed with OSA but had not been utilizing CPAP.

The treatment of choice for mild to moderate OSA is CPAP or Oral Appliances but CPAP is still considered the first line treatment for severe apnea. CPAP is considered the Gol Standard despite being rejected by 60% of patients. Studies of this sort are usually done with money from the CPAP industry. CPAP manufacturers have a 4 1/2 billion dollar business and frequently pay for research grants. Studies that compare oral appliances with CPAP SHOW SIMILAR RESULTS WITH TREATMENT.

The fact that non-OSA patients performed lower than CPAP users suggests that we are underdiagnosing milder forms of airway disruption.

Oral Appliances are preferred 90-95 % of mild to moderate OSA patients.

A joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, the annual SLEEP meeting brings together an international body of more than 5,000 leading clinicians and scientists in the fields of sleep medicine and sleep research. At SLEEP 2010 more than 1,100 research abstract presentations will showcase new findings that contribute to the understanding of sleep and the effective diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.

Abstract Title: Regeneration of overnight memory consolidation ability in CPAP patients
Abstract ID: 0101
Category: Learning, Memory and Cognition
Presentation Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Presentation Type: Poster - #62
Presentation Time: 10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine