The impact of daily stress exposure on EEG-derived sleep in mid-life (RPA Pilot / Seed Project)

Black Americans experience high rates of sleep deficiency and disorder. Black Americans, compared to White Americans - the most health advantage group in U.S. - have lower sleep efficiencies, higher rates of sleep-disordered breathing, and spend less time in deep sleep. Black Americans are also at greater risk for chronic diseases for which dysregulated sleep is a significant predictor, including cardiometabolic disease, diabetes, hypertension, and Alzheimer's disease. Increased racial stress - the term for higher rates of stress in Black Americans across age and socioeconomic status - may be one factor contributing to sleep disparities given that racial stress has been linked to sleep loss and health decline. Most studies examining sleep and racial stress have relied on subjective indicators of sleep. However, the physiological changes that occur during sleep, measured with electroencephalography (EEG) - the gold-standard methodology for sleep assessment - are the features most linked to health promotion across the lifespan. Yet, studies containing sleep-EEG assessments in Black Americans are rare. This is because Black Americans have been historically excluded from neuroscience research and EEG is a traditionally expensive method that requires an overnight visit to a laboratory staffed with trained technicians. Cutting-edge, mobile technologies now allow for the collection of EEG-sleep outside of the lab environment. Research leveraging these technologies can lead to a better understanding of sleep disparities in Black people and can inform interventions aimed at enhancing sleep features that are vulnerable to loss in Black Americans– ultimately with the goal of increasing sleep and health equity. The objective of this pilot study is two-fold: 1) to examine the impact of daily stress encounters on EEG-defined sleep indicators in Black Americans using valid and reliable FDA-approved mobile technologies and daily surveys across 2-weeks and 2) to increase sleep education and community engagement in sleep activities.