Sleep Quality and Architecture, Cognition, and Hormone Signaling in Endocrine Disorders

Sleep is essential for brain function, cognitive performance, and memory consolidation, and these processes are closely shaped by endocrine signals. Among these, cortisol has a particularly important role in sleep regulation, linking circadian timing and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity to the organization of sleep stages and next-day cognitive function. This interaction is especially relevant in endocrine disease. In Addison’s disease for example, lifelong glucocorticoid replacement does not fully reproduce normal physiological cortisol rhythms, and published data have associated altered night-time cortisol patterns with reduced slow-wave sleep, poorer sleep quality, and impaired memory-related outcomes. These findings have helped to position sleep disturbance not simply as a symptom, but as a plausible mechanistic pathway through which endocrine dysfunction may affect brain function and quality of life. Related questions are emerging in pituitary disorders, where disruption of central endocrine regulation may also influence sleep and cognition. Recent work in patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas has further highlighted the value of studying sleep and cognition together in endocrine populations, particularly where hypothalamic-pituitary signaling, circadian control, and neurobehavioral outcomes intersect. Despite growing interest, major gaps remain in our understanding of how abnormal hormone secretion, circadian misalignment, replacement regimens, and endocrine therapies alter sleep architecture and sleep quality, neural functioning, and cognitive processes for example, memory, attention, and executive function. A stronger mechanistic framework is needed to clarify how endocrine disorders affect the sleeping brain, and how sleep-focused approaches may improve patient outcomes.This Research Topic aims to bring together cutting-edge research on the links between sleep, cognition, brain function, and endocrine disease, with particular interest in Addison’s disease, adrenal and pituitary disorders, cortisol rhythms, and the neuroendocrine regulation of sleep architecture. We welcome studies spanning mechanistic, clinical, and translational perspectives that deepen our understanding of how endocrine disruption reshapes sleep-dependent brain function and cognition. To gather further insights into this evolving field, we welcome original research, review, and perspective articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Cortisol rhythms and the regulation of sleep architecture in endocrine disorders• Sleep-dependent mechanisms of memory consolidation, attention, executive function, and mood• Sleep and cognition in Addison’s disease, adrenal insufficiency, and glucocorticoid replacement states• Sleep and neurocognitive outcomes in pituitary disorders, including non-functioning pituitary adenomas• Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function, circadian disruption, and brain-endocrine interactions• Polysomnography, actigraphy, circadian profiling, and neurocognitive phenotyping in endocrine populations• Effects of endocrine therapies on sleep quality, sleep stages, and cognitive functioning• Translational strategies to improve sleep, cognition in endocrine disease Topic editors: Michelle Henry, Ian Ross, Kevin G. F. Thomas Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83209/sleep-quality-and-architecture-cognition-and-hormone-signaling-in-endocrine-disorders