Brain immune cells, not plaques, drive Alzheimer's sleep loss

Researchers at the University of Kentucky found that sleep disruption in Alzheimer's is driven by microglia, the brain's immune cells, which trigger inflammation in response to amyloid plaques. Temporarily depleting about 87% of microglia in mice restored more than two hours of sleep per day without removing the plaques.

• Depleting ~87% of microglia restored over 2 hours of daily sleep in mice
• Sleep improved without clearing amyloid plaques from the brain
• Microglia reacting to plaques trigger inflammation that disrupts deep sleep
• Findings published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia