NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE IN ELDERLY INSOMNIA PATIENTS

Elderly individuals with insomnia kept a daily sleep diary and were ad ministered neuropsychological tests the morning after a full-night sle ep laboratory recording. Subjective sleep disturbance (sleep diary) wa s related to performance on tests of vigilance, psychomotor speed, rec all memory, and executive function. In contrast, objective sleep distu rbance (sleep recording) was related to word list retention. The relat ionship of subjective sleep disturbance to neuropsychological function suggests that sleep perception and nonspecific psychological factors are important determinants of daytime performance in elderly insomniac s.