| Title: | Is there an association between daytime napping, cognitive function, and brain volume? A Mendelian randomization study in the UK Biobank |
| Journal: | Sleep Health |
| Published: | 20 Jun 2023 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37344293/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2023.05.002 |
Publication 11576
WARNING: the interactive features of this website use CSS3, which your browser does not support. To use the full features of this website, please update your browser.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Daytime napping has been associated with cognitive function and brain health in observational studies. However, it remains elusive whether these associations are causal. Using Mendelian randomization, we studied the relationship between habitual daytime napping and cognition and brain structure.</p>
METHODS: Data were from UK Biobank (maximum n = 378,932 and mean age = 57 years). Our exposure (daytime napping) was instrumented using 92 previously identified genome-wide, independent genetic variants (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs). Our outcomes were total brain volume, hippocampal volume, reaction time, and visual memory. Inverse-variance weighted was implemented, with sensitivity analyses (Mendelian randomization-Egger and Weighted Median Estimator) for horizontal pleiotropy. We tested different daytime napping instruments to ensure the robustness of our results.</p>
RESULTS: Using Mendelian randomization, we found an association between habitual daytime napping and larger total brain volume (unstandardized ß = 15.80 cm3 and 95% CI = 0.25; 31.34) but not hippocampal volume (ß = -0.03 cm3 and 95% CI = -0.13;0.06), reaction time (expß = 1.01 and 95% CI = 1.00;1.03), or visual memory (expß = 0.99 and 95% CI = 0.94;1.05). Additional analyses with 47 SNPs (adjusted for excessive daytime sleepiness), 86 SNPs (excluding sleep apnea), and 17 SNPs (no sample overlap with UK Biobank) were largely consistent with our main findings. No evidence of horizontal pleiotropy was found.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a modest causal association between habitual daytime napping and larger total brain volume. Future studies could focus on the associations between napping and other cognitive or brain outcomes and replication of these findings using other datasets and methods.</p>
3 Authors
- Valentina Paz
- Hassan S Dashti
- Victoria Garfield
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 71702 | Exploring the multifactorial nature of age-related health deterioration |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health