Do Brain Waves During Sleep Reflect Aβ and Tau Pathologies?

"Could gauging Aβ and tau accumulation in healthy older adults be as simple as measuring their brain activity during sleep? Researchers led by Matthew Walker, University of California, Berkeley, think it might. In the June 17 Journal of Neuroscience, they describe distinct EEG patterns that associate with each of these pathologies. Less slow-wave activity during non-REM sleep tracked with greater Aβ load in the cortex, while weak coupling between slow oscillations and an EEG phenomenon called sleep spindles correlated with greater tau burden in the medial temporal lobe. While the study doesn’t address cause and effect, people who reported losing sleep time in midlife had more Aβ and tau pathology in later life. “It is interesting, from a scientific point of view, that you can separate these [Aβ and tau] signatures,” said Kristine Yaffe, University of California, San Francisco."