Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36564151›Full record

ArticleLearning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.)2023

Sleep spindles and slow waves are physiological markers for age-related changes in gray matter in brain regions supporting problem-solving skills.

Balmeet Toor, Nicholas van den Berg, Laura B Ray, Stuart M Fogel

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Polygenic Index for Sleep Duration and Brain Changes over Time.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Balmeet ToorSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
Nicholas van den BergSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
Laura B RaySchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
Stuart M FogelSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
University of Ottawa · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

As we age, the added benefit of sleep for memory consolidation is lost. One of the hallmark age-related changes in sleep is the reduction of sleep spindles and slow waves. Gray matter neurodegeneration is related to both age-related changes in sleep and age-related changes in memory, including memory for problem-solving skills. Here, we investigated whether spindles and slow waves might serve as biological markers for neurodegeneration of gray matter and for the related memory consolidation deficits in older adults. Forty healthy young adults (20-35 yr) and 30 healthy older adults (60-85 yr) were assigned to either nap or wake conditions. Participants were trained on the Tower of Hanoi in the morning, followed by either a 90-min nap opportunity or period of wakefulness, and were retested afterward. We found that age-related changes in sleep spindles and slow waves were differentially related to gray matter intensity in young and older adults in brain regions that support sleep-dependent memory consolidation for problem-solving skills. Specifically, we found that spindles were related to gray matter in neocortical areas (e.g., somatosensory and parietal cortex), and slow waves were related to gray matter in the anterior cingulate, hippocampus, and caudate, all areas known to support problem-solving skills. These results suggest that both sleep spindles and slow waves may serve as biological markers of age-related neurodegeneration of gray matter and the associated reduced benefit of sleep for memory consolidation in older adults.

Indexed as

Gray MatterMemory ConsolidationAgedBiomarkersBrainElectroencephalographyHumansSleepYoung AdultBiomarkers

Identifiers

PMID36564151
PMCPMC9872192
OpenAlexW4312116188

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.