Kawai Makoto, Hosseini S M Hadi, Buck Casey, Karna Rosy, Parker-Fong Kai Ayinde, Taweesedt Pahnwat Tonya
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 1201 Welch Road, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 9;15(1):1523. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-84305-3.
Intermittent hypoxia, a consequence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), may contribute to an increased risk of cognitive decline. However, the association between SDB and cognition remains highly variable.
Fifty-two community-dwelling healthy older adults (28 women) were recruited. All participants underwent neuropsychiatric evaluations, simultaneous ambulatory polysomnography (PSG), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) recordings. We quantified the average coherence between oxy-Hb and SpO signals during SDB events to determine whether it could predict cognitive outcomes in healthy older adults, where higher coherence indicates reduced protection against systemic hypoxia.
The mean (SD) coherence of oxy-Hb and SpO was 0.16 (0.07). Linear regression analysis showed a significant association between mean coherence and worse Stroop Color Word Test scores (t=-0.304, p = .004). In contrast, oxy-Hb reduction alone and conventional SDB parameters did not show a significant association with cognition.
This is the first report to demonstrate an association between a novel parameter of brain-systemic oxygenation coherence in SDB and cognition in older adults. A higher coherence rate of cortical oxy-Hb and systemic SpO during SDB may reflect a loss of compensatory mechanisms against systemic hypoxia and could help stratify older adults with a higher risk for cognitive decline.
间歇性缺氧是睡眠呼吸障碍（SDB）的一个后果，可能会导致认知能力下降的风险增加。然而，SDB与认知之间的关联仍然高度可变。
招募了52名居住在社区的健康老年人（28名女性）。所有参与者均接受了神经精神评估、同步动态多导睡眠图（PSG）和近红外光谱（NIRS）记录。我们量化了SDB事件期间氧合血红蛋白（oxy-Hb）与血氧饱和度（SpO）信号之间的平均相干性，以确定其是否能够预测健康老年人的认知结果，其中较高的相干性表明对全身性缺氧的保护作用降低。
oxy-Hb与SpO的平均（标准差）相干性为0.16（0.07）。线性回归分析显示，平均相干性与较差的斯特鲁普色词测验分数之间存在显著关联（t=-0.304，p = 0.004）。相比之下，单独的oxy-Hb降低和传统的SDB参数与认知没有显著关联。
这是第一份证明SDB中脑-全身氧合相干性的新参数与老年人认知之间存在关联的报告。SDB期间皮质oxy-Hb与全身SpO的较高相干率可能反映了对全身性缺氧的代偿机制丧失，并可能有助于对认知能力下降风险较高的老年人进行分层。
