0213 Circadian Entrainment and Cognition in College Students using Antidepressants. (25th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gilmore, Gabriel; Bianchetta, Megan; Reinert, Oda; Davic, Steven; Trimp, Gabrielle; Dyche, Jeff
• Is Part Of: Sleep. Volume 45(2022)Supplement 1
• Page Start: A97
• Page End: A97
• Publication Date: 2022-05-25
• Subjects: Sleep -- Physiological aspects -- Periodicals; Sleep disorders -- Periodicals; Sommeil -- Aspect physiologique -- Périodiques; Sommeil, Troubles du -- Périodiques; Sleep disorders; Sleep -- Physiological aspects; Sleep -- physiological aspects; Sleep Wake Disorders; Psychophysiology; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 616.8498
• DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsac079.211
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0161-8105

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Depression, sleep disturbances, and cognitive deficits often co-occur. Compared to non-medicated controls, people using antidepressant medications (particularly serotonin agonists) often have improved sleep including increased slow wave sleep, quality and continuity. Improvements to cognition after antidepressant treatments are also common including benefits to reaction time, inhibition, and memory. Importantly, circadian deficits, including sleep onset latency, fragmentation, and phase shifts are common in patients with depression, yet the effect of antidepressant medication on circadian indicators is unclear. The current project examined sleep, circadian entrainment, and cognition in college students who were diagnosed with depression and using serotonin agonists and in those without depressive symptoms. Methods: Participants completed cognitive tasks that assessed reaction time, memory, attention, inhibition, and logical reasoning via the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric between 1100-1700 two times, first at study enrollment and second after a two-week study interval. After initial cognitive assessments, participants wore actigraphs for two weeks from which we extracted their sleep-wake patterns, total sleep time(TST), time in bed(TIB), sleep-onset latency(SOL), sleep efficiency, and wake after sleep onset(WASO). Study 1 included 15 undergraduate students (11F, 7 antidepressant users, Mage=19.53) and Study 2 included 25 graduate students (21F, 13 antidepressant users, Mage=25.37), all recruited from James Madison University. Results: Study 1 found that undergraduate antidepressant users had longer TIB, TST, and SOL. No cognitive or entrainment differences were found between drug use conditions. Within the antidepressant group, higher dosage predicted shorter TIB(r2=.64, p<.05), poorer spatial processing speed(r2=.73, p<.05) and logical relation performance(r2=.81, p<.05). In study 2, no circadian or cognitive differences were present across drug conditions. Deficits in WASO and sleep efficiency for antidepressant users were present. Within the antidepressant group, years of antidepressant use and dosage predicted poorer reaction time(r2=.84, p<.05), inhibition(r2=.70, p<.05), and spatial processing(r2=.98, p<.05). Self-reported wake episodes also predicted poorer reaction time and inhibition. Years of antidepressant use, dosage, and time of antidepressant use predicted TIB(r2=.73, p<.05), and time of antidepressant use predicted TST(sr2=.79, p<.05). Conclusion: Future studies should use longitudinal research designs and prospective methods to examine the impact of antidepressant medications on circadian rhythms, sleep and cognition. Support (If Any):