Kentucky Study Restores 2 Hours of Sleep by Depleting 87% of Microglia in Alzheimer’s Mice
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · Jul 25
Kentucky Study Restores 2 Hours of Sleep by Depleting 87% of Microglia in Alzheimer’s Mice
3 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · Jul 25
Summary
University of Kentucky researchers found microglia—not amyloid plaques alone or dying neurons—were the main driver of sleep loss in mice with Alzheimer’s-like disease.
After 14 days of pexidartinib, which temporarily removed about 87% of microglia, affected mice regained more than two hours of sleep a day and showed longer restorative NREM sleep without reducing plaque levels.
EEG and EMG recordings at 6 and 18 months showed sleep disruption appeared early, when plaques first emerged, then plateaued even after plaque burden more than doubled—a ceiling effect pointing to an early inflammatory trigger.
The study also separated aging from Alzheimer’s pathology: normal aging mainly reduced REM sleep, while amyloid-related disease selectively disrupted NREM sleep, the brain’s key restorative and toxin-clearing phase.
Researchers said the findings support microglia as a treatment target and suggest portable EEG could become a cheaper, noninvasive biomarker for earlier Alzheimer’s screening and monitoring.