science ๐ฌ It's immune cells, not plaques, messing with Alzheimer's sleep
A new study suggests brain immune cells, called microglia, are interfering with sleep in Alzheimer's patients. Researchers from the University of Kentucky found this by studying mice genetically engineered to develop amyloid-beta plaques. Initially, the plaques caused 1.5-2 hours of lost sleep nightly, a pattern that didn't worsen even with more plaque accumulation by 18 months. Blocking the microglia reaction in these mice resulted in an extra two hours of restorative sleep per night. This breakthrough offers a new target to potentially slow down Alzheimer's progression. ๐ง