The Effect of Acoustic Enhancement of Slow-Wave Activity on Cognitive Control and Emotional Reactivity in Young Adults with Anxiety and Depression Symptoms

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Anxiety and mood disorders are the most common psychiatric conditions. They are also highly comorbid, and co-occurrence is associated with worse patient outcomes. Neurobehavioral dysfunction in cognitive control and emotional reactivity are considered fundamental mechanisms of disorder onset and progression. To inform effective preventative treatments, it is critical to identify modifiable factors that directly impact these transdiagnostic processes. Sleep is one such factor. The deepest stage of sleep, slow-wave sleep, is consistently reduced in most psychiatric conditions and can be modified using a variety of techniques. Slow-wave sleep predominates over the prefrontal cortex, providing particular benefit to cognitive processes, including cognitive control. Cognitive control is instrumental in downregulating negative affect to aversive stimuli. The aim of the current study is to elucidate the role of slow-wave sleep in cognitive control and emotional reactivity to aversive stimuli. We will study 40 young adults with elevated anxiety and depression symptoms and sleep disturbance. Participants will complete two overnights in our sleep lab with polysomnography to assess sleep architecture. Participants will also wear an acoustic stimulation device to enhance slow-wave sleep. During one of the overnights, the device will play sub-arousal tones to boost slow-wave sleep; during the other overnight, tone volume will be zero. The day after each overnight, participants will complete assessments of cognitive control and emotional reactivity in an fMRI scanner. We will examine effects of acoustic enhancement of slow-wave sleep on neurobehavioral measures of cognitive control and emotional reactivity and whether improvements in emotional reactivity occur through cognitive control improvements. This study will elucidate sleep-based mechanisms of anxiety and mood disorder onset in an at-risk sample and inform innovative, targeted, accessible sleep preventative treatments. The candidate possesses skills in sleep manipulation, polysomnography, and assessment of cognitive processes to conduct the proposed research. With additional critical training in 1) advanced targeted sleep manipulation and sleep EEG spectral analysis, 2) cognitive-affective neuroscience and fMRI, and 3) clinical knowledge and treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, the Principal Investigator will obtain the skills necessary to develop an independent research program focused on sleep and mental health. Training and research activities for the current proposal will be completed at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The Department of Psychiatry and the Center for Sleep and Circadian Science are leaders in sleep and mental health research and devoted to the professional development of early career scientists. The candidate has assembled a mentorship team of experienced independent researchers and clinicians with expertise in the proposed research aims and a successful history of mentorship. The intellectual and material resources provided by the University of Pittsburgh, combined with the proposed mentorship team’s guidance strongly position the candidate to achieve her proposed training, research, and career goals.