Abstract

Sleep disorders are common early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the leading cause of quality of life impairment in AD patients. In terms of neurobiology, sleep disorders are of exceptional importance as they may provide insight into early mechanisms and neurodegenerative processes specific to AD. Growing data indicate that sleep disruption in AD is caused by selective degeneration of sleep- and wake-promoting nuclei in the brain stem and hypothalamus. Disruption of slow-wave sleep increases the concentration of tau and amyloid-beta in the brain, which may represent an important part of the pathophysiology of AD. Designing prospective studies that combine comprehensive clinical data with modern neuropathological analyses is a promising strategy to elucidate the biological basis of sleep disorders, and open new avenues for early treatments of AD.