# Neurobiological mechanisms of sleep and exercise effects on memory in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2021 · $41,440

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive form of dementia with no effective treatments. Episodic memory deficits
are a defining cognitive symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, which may be related to changes in the medial temporal
lobes (MTL). The MTL facilitates episodic memory function and is particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease
pathology. Both sleep and exercise are linked to episodic memory function, including pattern separation
operations reliant on the MTL. Evidence in young adults suggests that sleep and exercise are each independently
linked to mnemonic discrimination (behavioral correlate of pattern separation), but it is unclear whether they
interact to do so, and through what mechanisms. Whether these relationships are altered in older adults at-risk
for Alzheimer’s disease is also unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, the proposed study will record high-density
electroencephalography (hdEEG) during overnight sleep to measure the topographically specific (i.e., local)
expression of non-rapid eye movement sleep slow-wave activity (SWA) and fast sleep spindle activity, administer
a memory task assessing mnemonic discrimination prior to and following sleep to measure sleep-dependent
memory consolidation, and collect questionnaire data assessing exercise frequency and duration from 56 older
adults with heightened Alzheimer’s disease risk. High-resolution resting-state functional magnetic resonance
imaging (hr-rsfMRI) data previously collected from this same participant cohort will be analyzed to measure
resting-state network modularity. The project will address three specific aims: (1) determine whether local
expression of SWA and fast spindle activity are associated with sleep-dependent memory consolidation in older
adults, (2) determine whether network modularity is associated with sleep-dependent memory consolidation and
local sleep expression in older adults, and (3) determine whether exercise is associated with local expression of
SWA and fast spindle activity and network modularity. This project will provide the applicant with comprehensive
training in memory theory, advanced statistical modelling, and cutting-edge analytical methods for hr-rsfMRI and
hdEEG data. This research and training plan will prepare the applicant for an independent academic research
career and will provide novel insights into the neurobiological mechanisms supporting the relationships among
sleep, exercise, and memory consolidation in older adults at-risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Findings from this
project could guide prospective exercise and sleep-based interventional studies to improve memory function and
inform public health recommendations to reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk by underscoring the importance of
sleep.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10314868
- **Project number:** 1F31AG074703-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Miranda Chappel-Farley
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $41,440
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10314868

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10314868, Neurobiological mechanisms of sleep and exercise effects on memory in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease (1F31AG074703-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10314868. Licensed CC0.

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