Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42264275›Full record

Trial reportBrain, behavior, and immunity2026

Insomnia and inflammatory exposure impair spatial memory and cognitive mapping in older adults: a randomized controlled trial.

Dominique Piber, Richard Olmstead, Joshua Hyong-Jin Cho, Nina Sadeghi, Daisy Castillo, Haesoo Kim, Michael R Irwin

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

Dominique PiberCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah Health, Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
Richard OlmsteadCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Joshua Hyong-Jin ChoCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Nina SadeghiCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Daisy CastilloCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Haesoo KimCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Michael R IrwinCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States. Electronic address: mirwin1@ucla.edu.

Funding

Aging: Sleep and Inflammatory Mechanisms in Depression PreventionR01AG026364 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI IRWIN, MICHAEL R · 2005 to 2015
$5.8M
Mindfulness Meditation and Insomnia in Alzheimer Disease Caregivers: Inflammatory and Biological Aging MechanismsR01AG056424 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI IRWIN, MICHAEL R · 2017 to 2021
$3.7M
Experimental model of chronic pain risk: Insomnia, inflammation, central sensitization, and affective disturbanceR01AG057750 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI SMITH, MICHAEL T · 2018 to 2022
$3.4M
Experimental Model of Depression in Aging: Insomnia, Inflammation, and Affect MechanismsR01AG051944 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI IRWIN, MICHAEL R · 2016 to 2020
$3.0M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG026364NIA NIH HHS R01 AG051944NIA NIH HHS R01 AG056424NIA NIH HHS R01 AG057750
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInsomnia and inflammation are both risk factors for cognitive aging, especially declines of spatial memory and cognitive mapping. This study aimed to evaluate whether older adults with insomnia show deficits in spatial memory and cognitive mapping, and whether an inflammatory challenge might exacerbate those deficits.

methodsWe analyzed secondary outcomes of an assessor-blinded, parallel-condition, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial in 84 non-depressed adults aged 60-80 years (26 with insomnia disorder, 58 without insomnia) who were randomized to low-dose intravenous endotoxin or placebo. Two hours post-injection, participants completed a virtual Morris water maze task assessing spatial memory, followed by a room reconstruction task assessing cognitive mapping under real-world conditions. Circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines were repeatedly measured.

resultsAmong 84 randomized participants (66.0 ± 4.6 years; 50.0% female), 39 participants (12 insomnia; 27 control) received endotoxin and 45 (14 insomnia; 31 control) placebo. Older adults with insomnia showed impairments in spatial memory and cognitive mapping as compared to controls (P's < 0.01). Further, a significant group (insomnia vs. control) × condition (endotoxin vs. placebo) interaction emerged (P < 0.05), with post hoc tests revealing deficits in cognitive mapping in older adults with insomnia exposed to endotoxin (P < 0.01), but not in insomnia patients who received placebo or in controls. Cytokine responses were not related to spatial memory or mapping outcomes.

conclusionOlder adults with insomnia, as compared to controls, exhibit deficits in spatial memory and cognitive mapping, and the latter appears to be exaggerated following inflammatory exposure. Both insomnia and inflammation are potential mechanistic targets to preserve cognitive aging.

Indexed as

CognitionInflammationSleep Initiation and Maintenance DisordersSpatial MemoryAgedAged, 80 and overAgingCognitive AgingCytokinesEndotoxinsFemaleHumansMaleMaze LearningMiddle AgedCytokinesEndotoxinsCognitive agingCognitive mappingEndotoxinInflammationInsomniaSpatial memory

Identifiers

PMID42264275
PMCPMC13580227

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.