Skip Navigation


The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access originally published online on February 9, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 2009 64B(2):180-187; doi:10.1093/geronb/gbn037
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
64B/2/180    most recent
gbn037v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nebes, R. D.
Right arrow Articles by Monk, T. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nebes, R. D.
Right arrow Articles by Monk, T. H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Self-Reported Sleep Quality Predicts Poor Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Adults

Robert D. Nebes, Daniel J. Buysse, Edythe M. Halligan, Patricia R. Houck and Timothy H. Monk

Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Address correspondence to Robert D. Nebes, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Email: nebesrd{at}upmc.edu


  Abstract

This study examined the relation between sleep quality and cognitive performance in older adults, controlling for common medical comorbidities. Participants were community volunteers who, while not selected on the basis of their sleep, did report substantial variability in sleep quality. Good and poor sleepers differed on tests of working memory, attentional set shifting, and abstract problem solving but not on processing speed, inhibitory function, or episodic memory. Poor sleep was also associated with increased depressive symptomatology but only for functional symptoms (e.g., decreased concentration) and not for mood (e.g., sadness). The relationships between sleep quality and cognition were not explained by confound factors such as cerebrovascular disease, depression, or medication usage. Sleep problems may contribute to performance variability between elderly individuals but only in certain cognitive domains.

Key Words: Cognition • depression • sleep

Received March 24, 2008; Accepted September 5, 2008

Decision Editor: Rosemary Blieszner, PhD


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.