Abstract INTRODUCTION Poor sleep characteristics are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) among older adults; however, this relationship remains underexplored earlier in life. We investigated how early midlife sleep relates to AD‐related biomarkers in late midlife. METHODS A total of 1325 adults (mean age = 40.3 years) self‐reported sleep quality, sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, and insomnia symptoms. Twenty years later, we assessed plasma amyloid beta (Aβ)42/40, tau phosphorylated at threonine 217 (p‐tau217), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐derived Spatial Pattern of Abnormality for Recognition of Early AD (SPARE‐AD), characterizing AD‐like brain atrophy. RESULTS After multivariable adjustment, longer sleep duration was associated with lower Aβ42/40, poor sleep quality with higher NfL, daytime sleepiness with both lower Aβ42/40 and higher NfL, and insomnia symptoms with higher SPARE‐AD. No associations were observed with sleep and p‐tau217. DISCUSSION Poor sleep in early midlife was associated with unfavorable AD biomarker levels 20 years later, supporting the idea of sleep as a potential modifiable AD risk factor.
Cavaillès et al. (Wed,) studied this question.