Sleep‐dependent association between atrophy and functional connectivity in mild cognitive impairment

BackgroundSleep quality might influence the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, driving alterations in brain morphology and functional connectivity. However, the relationship between sleep, gray matter atrophy, and functional connectivity is poorly understood. The present study aims to compare levels of these brain alterations associated with sleep habits in MCI patients.MethodStructural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting‐state functional MRI (rs‐fMRI) data from 38 MCI and 38 age‐matched controls were analyzed to investigate atrophy and connectivity, respectively. MCI were stratified into “good” (n=20) and “poor” (n=18) sleepers, stratified at the 50th percentile of the Sleep Continuity in Alzheimer’s Disease Scale, a self‐report questionnaire assessing sleeping quality. Independent component analysis was used to identify the default mode (DMN) and frontoparietal (FPN) networks. For each patient and modality (i.e., struc...