# Sleep, breathing, hemodynamic oscillations, and cerebrospinal fluid movements - Building toward a novel treatment approach for Alzheimer's disease

> **NIH NIH R21** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $229,151

## Abstract

Sleep, breathing, hemodynamic oscillations, and cerebrospinal fluid movements – Building toward a
novel treatment approach for Alzheimer's disease
 Sleep deficiencies/problems are common in Alzheimer's disease with several hypothesized connections
to the movement of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in the brain. For example, within Alzheimer's disease the
accumulation of beta-amyloid and tau proteins may reflect inefficiencies in neuro-metabolic waste clearance
during sleep (a glymphatic system process that is intricately linked with CSF movement). Within
neurodegenerative research, the circulation of CSF has hypothesized links to several biological/physiological
processes (e.g., sleep, hemodynamic oscillations, breathing); however, we are limited in our understanding of
how to potentially improve CSF movement and neuro-metabolic waste clearance to ultimately slow the
progression of Alzheimer's disease. The present study fills these critical gaps by (1) quantifying sleep-coupled
CSF movement and (2) documenting how CSF movement is coupled with other (more easily assessed and
manipulated) biological signals (i.e., hemodynamic oscillations, breathing). The overarching goals of this line of
work are to improve our understanding of CSF movement and how this knowledge can be leveraged to slow the
progression of Alzheimer's disease.
 Unlike blood circulation, CSF has no `engine' to drive its flow; therefore, changes in cerebral blood volume
(CBV) likely serve as a `driver' of CSF movement. Previous research demonstrates that increases in CBV can
be neuronally driven (e.g., sleep); arterial pulsation driven; or breath driven (e.g., meditation/guided breathing).
However, we do not understand the magnitude of these changes/couplings. Improving CSF
movement/circulation for individuals with Alzheimer's disease has the potential to slow the pathology progression
and could prolong higher quality of life for the millions of Americans currently diagnosed.
  Aim 1: Assess the degree of coupling between cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral spinal fluid
 (CSF) movement during wake and sleep states.
  Aim 2: Assess the relative contributions of breathing oscillations on CBV and CSF fluctuations during
 wake and sleep states.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10910177
- **Project number:** 5R21AG077461-02
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** AMY J SCHWICHTENBERG
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $229,151
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10910177

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10910177, Sleep, breathing, hemodynamic oscillations, and cerebrospinal fluid movements - Building toward a novel treatment approach for Alzheimer's disease (5R21AG077461-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10910177. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*