Sleep Disorders and Cognitive Impairment
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral and Mental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 882
Special Issue Editors
Interests: mild cognitive impairment; Alzheimer’s disease; dementia; geriatric medicine; frailty
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sleep is vital for overall physical and mental health and is increasingly recognised as important in maintaining healthy brain function. Despite advances in understanding the causes of cognitive impairment, including dementia, few disease-modifying and no curative treatments are yet available, though there are effective treatments for cognitive decline, including non-pharmacological interventions, depending on the cause of dementia. In particular, cognitive impairment due to some metabolic, inflammatory, and autoimmune conditions can be reversible.
Poor sleep is implicated in the development of dementia and may represent an important population-based modifiable target, particularly in early cognitive decline. The association with sleep and dementia is seen for all dementia types but is most notable for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease-related dementia. Preventing or delaying dementia is therefore a public health priority, and low-cost and easily accessible interventions, including those targeting sleep, are needed. Sleep disturbance leads to increased caregiver burden, potentially leading to suboptimal care and early institutionalisation, which increases the economic burden of the disease. Sleep also impacts mood, which can compound cognitive impairment. In particular, late-life major depressive disorder is associated with both sleep disturbance and cognitive decline. Major depressive disorder in the older population has been associated with the later development of dementia, particularly vascular dementia.
This special thematic issue welcomes papers examining the use of pharmacological and non-pharmacological sleep interventions to address cognitive impairment, particularly those that focus on low-cost interventions. The issue also seeks papers exploring the epidemiology of sleep disturbance in cognitive decline as well as how sleep can be addressed from a public health perspective in those exhibiting cognitive dysfunction. The issue also seeks to explore the complex relationships between sleep, depression, and cognitive decline. Papers exploring economic or societal costs will also be welcomed.
Dr. Rónán O’Caoimh
Dr. Abbas Smiley
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sleep
- cognitive impairment
- dementia
- pharmacological intervention
- non-pharmacological intervention
- economic
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