# Cortical Hemodynamism and Oxygenation During Sleep and Cognition: Window to Cognitive Impairment and Neurodegeneration in Aging

> **NIH NIH K23** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $194,200

## Abstract

Project Summary
 My long-term goal is to become a leading physician-scientist in the field of “sleep medicine in aging and
neurodegenerative disorders.” Specifically, I aim to become a leading expert in developing innovative methods
for sleep and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) evaluation and concomitant cognition in older adults in order to
better understand neurodegenerative disorders. The proposed investigation of sleep, SDB and cognition in
older adults will be the basis for my career development as a physician scientist.
 Sleep and SDB are under-characterized in older adults, particularly in the context of the progression
from normal aging to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to dementia. This is partially because current
assessments of sleep are limited due to the lack of information regarding cortical hemodynamism or
oxygenation to capture sleep fragmentation or cortical hypoxia from SDB. Thus, simultaneous and
synchronized recording of functional neuroimaging monitoring cortical hemodynamism and oxygenation with
PSG would substantially contribute to our understanding of the effect of aging on sleep and its subsequent
impact on cognitive decline and/or neurodegeneration. Newer technologies such as Near Infrared
Spectroscopy (NIRS) have the potential to significantly improve the ability to acquire simultaneous
synchronized recording of brain hemodynamism and oxygenation with PSG in order to better understand the
aging effects on brain function during sleep and SDB.
 The project I propose will be to conduct simultaneous NIRS and PSG during sleep, and cognitive tests
on older adults with SDB and without SDB. I aim to identify potential sleep biomarkers in hemodynamism or
oxygenation patterns from SDB and sleep itself, which will form the basis for my future longitudinal study to
examine the extent to which sleep architecture and associated brain function can serve as potent predictors of
cognitive decline, MCI and neurodegenerative disorders.
 Building on my prior training as a Sleep MD and Neurologist, my career development plan is to gain the
necessary additional skills to achieve this career goal. My mentorship team will guide my training in 1)
combining NIRS with PSG to assess the brain function underlying sleep; 2) other modalities of functional
neuroimaging; 3) analysis of functional neuroimaging technologies; 4) characterizing cognitive function, MCI
and dementia; 5) understanding the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders and associated
comorbidities; and 6) methodological and statistical approaches to cross-sectional and longitudinal data, and
analysis of medical/psychiatric comorbidities and medications that impact sleep and aging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9916674
- **Project number:** 5K23AG053465-04
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Makoto Kawai
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $194,200
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9916674

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9916674, Cortical Hemodynamism and Oxygenation During Sleep and Cognition: Window to Cognitive Impairment and Neurodegeneration in Aging (5K23AG053465-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9916674. Licensed CC0.

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