background image
25
www.alzheimers2013.com
sHaRON NaismitH
Associate Professor Sharon
Naismith is a Clinical
Neuropsychologist at the Brain
& Mind Research Institute
University of Sydney. She is
the Director of the Clinical
Research Unit, and Co-Directs the Ageing Brain
Centre.
Sharon's research interests are in investigating
the neurobiology of major psychiatric and
neurodegenerative disorders in older people
and the role of early intervention. She has
authored over 90 internationally peer-reviewed
publications in these areas and is a Chief
Investigator on competitive grants totaling over
$3.5 million.
She is currently the recipient of a NHMRC
Career Development Award to investigate
modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline
in older people. Her research ranges from
large-scale intervention trials utilising e-health,
as well as clinical trials investigating the
effects of pharmacological interventions,
dietary supplements, educational programs
and cognitive training. One of Sharon's major
research interests is in the area of sleep and
circadian rhythms, particularly with regard to
the role that sleep plays in maintaining brain
integrity, and in consolidating memories.
Her work in this area includes a longitudinal
study, which examines in detail the circadian
and sleep physiology characteristics of
older people with Parkinson's disease, mild
cognitive impairment, late-life depression and
frontotemporal dementia. She also runs group
based programs targeting sleep disturbance
and a study examining the effects of napping
on memory consolidation.
Concert Hall
n
WeLLBeING
slEEP-WEll, tHiNk WEll:
slEEP-WakE CHaNgEs iN
NEuROdEgENERativE disEasE
With increasing age, disturbances of sleep-
wake cycles are reported, with changes to the
amount of sleep required, the timing of sleep
and the quality of sleep, including increased
nocturnal awakenings, poor consolidation of
sleep and less time in deep sleep stages. In
Alzheimer's Disease, these disturbances are
even more pronounced, and are a predictor
of cognitive decline, psychiatric symptoms,
behavioral disturbance, carer burden and
nursing home placement. However, it is not
yet clear whether sleep-disturbance merely
co-occurs with cognitive change, or whether it
may actually mediate cognitive decline.
It is certainly plausible that sleep disturbance
is linked aetiologically to cognitive functioning
and decline. Animal work shows that sleep
has a neuroprotective role, contributing
to hippocampal neurogenesis. In addition,
in healthy younger and older samples, a
corpus of research has shown that sleep is
critical to overnight memory consolidation,
enabling memories to be stored in the
cortex, and `freeing up' the hippocampus for
next day processing. Via analysis of sleep
microarchitecture, neurophysiological aspects
of these processes have been discerned and
may partly rely on the integrity of the prefrontal
cortex, thalamus and hippocampus.
This presentation will review data pertaining to
sleep-wake changes in Alzheimer's Disease,
as well as the recent discoveries in other key
neurodegenerative diseases.
The literature linking sleep with
neuroprotection, neurogenesis and overnight
memory consolidation will also be reviewed,