The age differences of sleep disruption on mood states and memory performance

AbstractObjectives: In the present study, we explored the age differences of mood states and memory performance between younger and older adults after one night of sleep disruption.Method: Twenty-nine younger adults and 30 older adults completed mood states assessments and memory tasks before and after sleep disruption. Participants’ sleep was disrupted by periodical phone calls once per hour. Sleep parameters of baseline sleep and disrupted sleep were recorded by actigraphy.Results: Regarding the mood states, older adults were less affected than younger adults, more tolerant of sleep disruption. With respect to memory, younger adults showed increased memory performance after nocturnal sleep, even if this sleep was disrupted. In contrast, older adults’ sleep-related memory consolidation was impaired.Conclusion: Periodic sleep disruption for one night resulted in impaired function of older adults’ sleep-related memory consolidation and younger adults’ mood states. These findings shed light on the understan...