From Dreams to Dementia: Shedding Light on the Sleep-Lewy Body Dementia Connection

Sleep constitutes a significant portion of human
life, with individuals spending approximately one-third of
their existence either sleeping or attempting to do so.1
Sleep is critical not only for its comforting effects but also
for the maintenance of normal cognitive functioning and
human survival. The phenomenon of sleep is complex, with
the body unresponsive to cognitive impulses from external
stimuli whilst the brain continues to function within
various learning and memory-related regions. The time
spent sleeping is vital for retaining memory, as it helps to
stabilize and improve associations between synapses and
various areas of the brain. Sleep is divided into two distinct

stages, namely rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep and non-
rapid-eye movement (NREM) sleep. Slow-wave sleep, the

fourth stage of NREM sleep, is the deepest stage of sleep
and promotes muscle and mental health restoration, as
well as memory consolidation. 2
Acquisition, consolidation, and review are the three
primary phases of learning and memory. Acquisition
refers to the influx of new information into the brain,
consolidation to the preservation of memory, and review to
the ability to retrieve stored information. Consolidation of
memories can only occur during sleep, according to
numerous studies, and it does so through the neural
networks that control memory. Additionally, different
brainwave patterns are associated with the formation of
different types of memories.