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Aging in mice reduces the ability to sustain sleep/wake states
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Aging in mice reduces the ability to sustain sleep/wake states

Mathieu E Wimmer, Justin Rising, Raymond J Galante, Abraham Wyner, Allan I Pack and Ted Abel
PloS one, Vol.8(12), pp.e81880-e81880
2013
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081880
PMCID: PMC3864844
PMID: 24358130
url
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0081880View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

One of the most significant problems facing older individuals is difficulty staying asleep at night and awake during the day. Understanding the mechanisms by which the regulation of sleep/wake goes awry with age is a critical step in identifying novel therapeutic strategies to improve quality of life for the elderly. We measured wake, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep in young (2-4 months-old) and aged (22-24 months-old) C57BL6/NIA mice. We used both conventional measures (i.e., bout number and bout duration) and an innovative spike-and-slab statistical approach to characterize age-related fragmentation of sleep/wake. The short (spike) and long (slab) components of the spike-and-slab mixture model capture the distribution of bouts for each behavioral state in mice. Using this novel analytical approach, we found that aged animals are less able to sustain long episodes of wakefulness or NREM sleep. Additionally, spectral analysis of EEG recordings revealed that aging slows theta peak frequency, a correlate of arousal. These combined analyses provide a window into the mechanisms underlying the destabilization of long periods of sleep and wake and reduced vigilance that develop with aging.
Electroencephalography Arousal - physiology Animals Aging - physiology Sleep, REM - physiology Sleep Stages - physiology Wakefulness - physiology Circadian Rhythm - physiology Mice Sleep - physiology Brain - physiology

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