# POSTOPERATIVE DELIRIUM AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC MEASURES OF SLEEP AND WAKEFULNESS

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $466,444

## Abstract

Abstract
Postoperative delirium is one of the most common complications following cardiac surgery, with an incidence
of up to 50%. Apart from its psychological and physical toll on patients and caregivers, delirium interferes with
rehabilitation. It places compromised individuals at risk for self-injury and falls. Given that delirium is associated
with subsequent long-term cognitive impairment, elucidation of acute precipitating factors may lend insight into
the chronic pathological processes underlying Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Biomarkers are
urgently needed to advance efforts aimed at characterizing postoperative delirium susceptibility, onset, and
recovery. Development of these biomarkers would also serve as a major step toward clarifying
pathophysiologic mechanisms. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signatures used in defining sleep architecture
have potential to address these voids. Their characterization in the postoperative period is also essential for
evaluating perioperative sleep disruption as a contributor and predictor of delirium. Our proposal, Postoperative
Delirium and Electroencephalographic Measures of Sleep and Wakefulness, is designed to probe temporal
relationships between delirium and well-characterized EEG signatures that predict cognitive dysfunction.
Future preoperative stratification for delirium vulnerability could inform patients and their families regarding the
likelihood of potential cognitive trajectories after elective procedures. For health care practitioners, identification
of susceptible patients before surgery could focus diagnostics and optimization. The proposed work may also
contribute to novel pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions. Such therapies would target
underlying thalamocortical circuits and the expression of specific EEG motifs to impact cognitive recovery.
Overall, we expect this work to yield inexpensive, noninvasive, and readily translatable biomarkers, thereby
improving neurological outcomes within and beyond perioperative medicine.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10116239
- **Project number:** 5R01AG057901-04
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ben Julian Palanca
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $466,444
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-15 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10116239

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10116239, POSTOPERATIVE DELIRIUM AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC MEASURES OF SLEEP AND WAKEFULNESS (5R01AG057901-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10116239. Licensed CC0.

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