Podcast 554: Sleeping Away Alzheimer’s

<p><strong>Contributor: Dave Rosenberg, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">White noise is all the surrounding sound frequencies mixed together that your brain tunes down so you don’t get distracted while you're sleeping</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pink noise, or deep soothing noises, is the accentuated bass sounds like falling rain or waves crashing your brain keys into while sleeping.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brain electrical waves during stage 4 sleep (the deepest of sleeps), cause sudden increases and decreases in cerebral blood flow allowing for CSF washing of the brain, which helps eliminate beta amyloid - the misfolded protein linked to Alzheimers</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pink noise during sleep has been shown to increase stage 4, creating more CSF washout of beta amyloid.</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><a href= "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Neuroendocrine-Metabolic+Dysfunction+and+Sleep+Disturbances+in+Neurodegenerative+Disorders%3A+Focus+on+Alzheimer%27s+Disease+and+Melatonin."> <span style="font-weight: 400;">1</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. Spinedi, E. Cardinali, DP. Neuroendocrine Metabolic Dysfunction and Sleep Disturbances in Neurodegenerative Disorders: Focus on Alzhimer's Disease and Melatonin. Neuroendocrinology. 2019;108(4):354-364. doi: 10.1159/000494889. Epub 2018 Oct 28.</span></p> <p><a href= "https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.libproxy.tulane.edu/pubmed/?term=pink+noise+zee"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">2</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. Zee, P. Papalambros NA.</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">et al</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. Acoustic Enhancement of Sleep Slow Oscillations and Concomitant Memory Improvement in Older Adults. Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Mar 8;11:109. doi: 10.