# Sleep and circadian effects on memory in healthy young and older adults

> **NIH NIH F32** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $31,048

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Sleep is widely believed to play a critical role in memory consolidation, but the exact nature of this role
remains controversial. Sleep disturbances are commonly reported in patients with neurologic and psychiatric
disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease[1, 2] or schizophrenia [3] as well as in normal healthy aging [4], raising
the possibility that alterations in sleep may underlie some of the cognitive impairments reported in these
populations. Moreover, recent CDC data estimates that over a third of U.S. adults experience chronic insufficient
sleep [5], which may have immediate and long-term consequences on cognition. While there is abundant
evidence that sleep is important for learning [6], other factors such as circadian timing, age, and individual
differences may also have an effect on learning, both directly and indirectly via their effects on sleep. These
areas must be addressed in order to further develop our understanding of the complex relationship between
sleep and memory.
 We have previously found circadian- and wake-dependent influences on performance in healthy young
and older adults, using several different neurobehavioral tests [7, 8]. However, it is unclear whether the duration
of wakefulness and biological timing impact memory tasks in a similar way, particularly among older adults.
Additionally, we have previously demonstrated that performance on a face-name association memory task was
enhanced in young adults when an overnight sleep opportunity was included in the retention interval [9], but
were unable to identify an association between performance on this task and sleep duration or any sleep stage.
Here, we propose to investigate whether circadian timing or duration of time awake affects short-term word-pair
or face-name memory and whether this differs between young and older adults, using existing data collected
from two different memory tasks administered over the course of a highly controlled inpatient sleep and circadian
rhythm study. In addition, we propose to follow up on our previous study by collecting new data to investigate
whether sleep duration or structure enhance performance on a face-name memory task, using repeated testing
across multiple nights in the same individuals. Understanding how sleep, duration of waking, and biological
timing impact memory and how those impacts may differ with healthy aging is critical to understanding cognitive
deficits in populations with disrupted sleep.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10265994
- **Project number:** 5F32HL143893-03
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Robin Yuan
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $31,048
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-15 → 2021-01-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10265994

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10265994, Sleep and circadian effects on memory in healthy young and older adults (5F32HL143893-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-02 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10265994. Licensed CC0.

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