Study Finds Fragmented Sleep Damages Brain Blood Vessels and Accelerates Cognitive Decline

A recent study has provided compelling evidence that fragmented sleep not only leads to fatigue but also causes physical damage to brain blood vessels, potentially accelerating cognitive decline. This groundbreaking research offers cellular and molecular insights into how disrupted sleep directly harms cerebral vasculature and impairs blood flow. Published in the journal Brain, the study involved monitoring 600 older adults with wearable sleep devices and examining their brain tissues post-mortem. The findings establish a direct biological link between poor sleep quality and brain tissue damage. The study revealed that individuals experiencing fragmented sleep exhibited noticeable deterioration in the brain’s blood vessels, particularly affecting pericytes—cells that support blood vessel function. These cells are crucial for regulating blood flow, maintaining the blood-brain barrier, and preserving vascular health. Sleep disruption caused these pericytes to malfunction, compromising blood supply and barrier integrity. Dr. Andrew Lim, lead researcher and sleep neurologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, explained, We observed that disrupted sleep led to alterations in peri...