A research collaboration led by biologists and neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania has found a molecular pathway in the brain that is the cause of cognitive impairment due to sleep deprivation.
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cognitive impairment
Individuals who experience trauma during childhood appear more likely to develop chronic fatigue syndrome as adults, according to a report in the January, 2009, issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, neuro–endocrine dysfunction — or abnormalities in the interaction between the nervous system and endocrine system — appears to be associated with childhood trauma in those with chronic fatigue syndrome, suggesting a biological pathway by which early experiences influence adult vulnerability to illness.
Chronic fatigue syndrome affects as many as 2.5 percent of U.S. adults, according to background information in the article. Little is known about the causes and development of the condition. Risk factors include female sex, genetic predisposition, certain personality traits and physical and emotional stress. “Stress in interaction with other risk factors likely triggers chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms through its effects on central nervous, neuro–endocrine and immune systems, resulting in functional changes that lead to fatigue and associated symptoms such as sleep disruption, cognitive impairment and pain,” the authors write.
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Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment seems to improve cognitive functioning in patients with Alzheimer’s disease who also suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, according to the results of a randomized clinical trial conducted at the University of California, San Diego.
The study led by Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and one of the nation’s preeminent experts in the field of sleep disorders and sleep research in aging populations was published in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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