# Home Sleep Therapy System for Mild Cognitive Impairment

> **NIH NIH R44** · BRAIN ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY COMPANY, LLC · 2022 · $555,043

## Abstract

Several findings suggest that a deficit in deep sleep (stage N3) with increased age impairs
ongoing memory consolidation possibly contributing to the memory decline of mild cognitive
impairment (MCI). Furthermore, impaired N3 sleep also causes inadequate excretion of beta
amyloids and tau protein, which over many years of poor sleep may contribute to the long term
neural degeneration leading to Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The evidence to date implies a
vicious circle: the buildup of neurotoxins impairs the slow wave stage of deep sleep, and the
degree of sleep deficit appears to predict the buildup of neurotoxins and thus progression to AD
[1]. The present project will create the Neurosom® Electric Sleep Therapy (NEST) system to
allow researchers to conduct TES studies to improve sleep in seniors with MCI in their home
setting. The system includes a simple battery-operated bluetooth headband for
electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), linked with a
powerful bedside nanocomputer for sleep EEG analysis and machine learning classification of
sleep stages. Communication with cloud services provides support for data analysis, memory
assessment, and reporting to the patient and physician. By implementing and testing the NEST
system in the home environment, this project will provide cost-effective tools for monitoring
physiologic and behavioral measures sleep quality at home. In addition, it will allow researchers
to develop TES protocols for manipulating sleep neurophysiology, such as synchronizing sleep
spindles and the slow oscillations of N3 sleep in at-risk populations. Although our focus is on
TES to extend N3 sleep, the EEG headband assessment will also provide definitive sleep
quality outcome measures to evaluate various approaches to sleep therapy in seniors with MCI,
including: sleep hygiene, improved exercise, Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia, and new
pharmacologic agents. The realistic goal from this project is improve the quality of sleep and
memory function in older persons with MCI. If it proves feasible to improve sleep over many
years, the more ambitious goal could be to delay or even avoid the onset of dementia in millions
of healthy seniors. To provide preliminary data on this long-range goal, the Phase II trial will
include serial plasma measures of beta amyloid excretion (AB40, AB42) to test the hypothesis
that improved deep sleep may improve glymphatic clearance of toxic metabolites.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10547669
- **Project number:** 1R44AG077965-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** BRAIN ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY COMPANY, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Don M Tucker
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $555,043
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10547669

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10547669, Home Sleep Therapy System for Mild Cognitive Impairment (1R44AG077965-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10547669. Licensed CC0.

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