van Someren E J, Mirmiran M, Swaab D F
Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute for Brain Research.
Behav Brain Res. 1993 Nov 30;57(2):235-53. doi: 10.1016/0166-4328(93)90140-l.
Numerous studies indicate a deterioration of nighttime sleep and daytime cognitive performance in elderly people and Alzheimer patients. As a result of the increasing number of elderly people and Alzheimer patients in the western society, attention for these problems has grown. However, so far, the major research effort has been concentrating on the development of pharmacological therapies for an isolated age-related problem. In the present review it is argued that several age-related problems with sleep and wakefulness may reflect a dampening of circadian rhythm amplitudes. Non-pharmacological manipulation of circadian rhythms by means of various external stimuli appears to be effective in improving sleep and cognitive functioning in elderly people and Alzheimer patients.
众多研究表明，老年人和阿尔茨海默病患者的夜间睡眠及白天认知能力会出现衰退。由于西方社会中老年人和阿尔茨海默病患者的数量不断增加，对这些问题的关注度也日益提高。然而，到目前为止，主要的研究工作一直集中在针对孤立的与年龄相关问题开发药物治疗方法上。在本综述中，有人认为，一些与年龄相关的睡眠和觉醒问题可能反映出昼夜节律振幅的减弱。通过各种外部刺激对昼夜节律进行非药物调节，似乎对改善老年人和阿尔茨海默病患者的睡眠及认知功能有效。
