Electrophysiological assessment of the effects of obstructive sleep apnea on cognition.

We used electrophysiological measures to investigate the effects of obstructive sleep apnea on attention, learning, and memory. Thirty subjects (OSA group, n = 15, control group n = 15) participated in n-back tests, accompanied by P300 recordings, to investigate working memory and attention. The mir...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ethem Gelir, Cenk Başaran, Sibel Bayrak, Süha Yağcıoğlu, Murat Timur Budak, Hikmet Fırat, Pekcan Ungan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090647&type=printable
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Summary:We used electrophysiological measures to investigate the effects of obstructive sleep apnea on attention, learning, and memory. Thirty subjects (OSA group, n = 15, control group n = 15) participated in n-back tests, accompanied by P300 recordings, to investigate working memory and attention. The mirror-drawing test was used to study procedural memory, and the trail-making test (TMT) was used to evaluate divided attention and executive function. No significant group difference in reaction time was found in the 0-back and 1-back tests. In the 2-back test, reaction times of patients were longer than those of the control group. No P300 wave was obtained in the OSA group in any (0-, 1-, or 2-back) n-back test. In contrast, in the control group, significant P300 waves were recorded except for the 2-back test. The mirror-drawing scores were unaffected by sleep apnea. There was no difference between groups in the TMT-A test on any of the trials. Although no group difference was found in the first or second trials of the TMT-B test, OSA patients were less successful in learning on the third trial. According to our study results, OSA affects attention and executive function adversely however, we could not detect a significant effect on working or procedural memory.
ISSN:1932-6203