AI-Driven Sleep Study on Links Between Sleep and Neurodegeneration

Can sleep patterns measured at home provide early clues about the development and progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease?

Background

Sleep problems are very common in people with brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and they often appear years before major memory or movement problems begin. Researchers believe that poor sleep and brain degeneration influence each other, but this connection is still not fully understood. One reason is that sleep studies often take place in a hospital or sleep lab, are uncomfortable, and last only one night. This makes it hard to study long-term sleep changes that may signal early disease. New wearable devices and artificial intelligence (AI) tools now allow researchers to measure sleep, brain activity, heart rate, and movement over many nights in a person’s own home. Early studies suggest that subtle changes in sleep may reflect early brain disease, but these findings need to be tested more carefully and linked to biological signs of neurodegeneration.

Research Plan

The research team will first train an AI system using thousands of existing sleep recordings from older adults to learn the differences between healthy aging and neurodegenerative disease. They will then adapt this system for use with simple wearable devices, including a small in-ear sensor that measures brain activity during sleep and a smart ring that tracks sleep and daily activity. Study participants will use these devices at home for two weeks. The researchers will combine sleep data with memory tests and blood tests that measure markers of brain disease. Participants will be followed over time to see whether early sleep patterns can predict changes in these disease markers. Studying sleep across many nights will allow the team to better capture meaningful changes related to brain health.

Impact

This research could lead to a simple, non-invasive way to monitor brain health using sleep at home. Earlier detection of disease-related sleep changes may help doctors identify neurodegenerative diseases sooner, track their progression more accurately, and develop new treatments that focus on improving sleep to protect brain health.