Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42728376›Full record

ArticleNature neuroscience2026

Human tau pathology is associated with lonely, nontraveling slow waves linked to memory impairment.

Omer Sharon, Xi Chen, Jason Dude, James Westphal, Chelsea Brown, Vyoma D Shah, Yo-El S Ju, William J Jagust, Matthew P Walker

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Nature neuroscience, 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

9 authors.

Omer SharonCenter for Human Sleep Science, Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. omersharon@berkeley.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1403-380X
Xi ChenHelen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1998-8461
Jason DudeDepartment of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
James WestphalCenter for Human Sleep Science, Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Chelsea BrownCenter for Human Sleep Science, Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Vyoma D ShahCenter for Human Sleep Science, Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Yo-El S JuDepartment of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
William J JagustDepartment of Neuroscience, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4458-113X
Matthew P WalkerCenter for Human Sleep Science, Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. mpwalker@berkeley.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7839-6389

Funding

Tau pathology, sleep disruption, and hippocampal memory decline in older adultsRF1AG054106 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI WALKER, MATTHEW P · 2017 to 2018
$4.7M
Sleep and Electroencephalography Biomarkers of Alzheimer's DiseaseR01AG059507 · NIA · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI JU, YO-EL S · 2018 to 2022
$2.0M
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Aging (U.S. National Institute on Aging) R01AG059507U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Aging (U.S. National Institute on Aging) RF1AG054106
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Memory markedly declines with age, exaggerated in those with Alzheimer's disease, yet the mechanisms are still not resolved. Here we show that frontal lobe tau pathology in humans is associated with impaired en masse unity and cortical traveling propagation of nonrapid eye movement slow waves, linked to impaired memory retention. We elucidate these findings using positron-emission tomography tau brain imaging, and then replicate and extend them using Alzheimer's disease pathology markers derived from cerebrospinal fluid in an independent clinical cohort. Thus, tau-associated memory deficits are not wholly direct but indirectly linked to consequential 'lonely', nontraveling slow-wave events.

Identifiers

PMID42728376

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.