The project’s first study will look at healthy people who may, or may not, have an increased genetic risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future.
After a screening process, volunteers will wear a small wrist-worn device to measure sleep and activity at home, and keep a sleep diary.
They will then take part in a three-night lab session under one of two conditions – including one night of complete sleep deprivation, or taking multiple short naps.
Lead researcher Dr Alpar Lazar, from UEA’s School of Health Sciences, said: “We live in an ageing society, and sleep disturbances and dementia are two significant health problems in older adults.
“Good sleep is central to maintaining cognitive performance – such as attention and memory as well as general brain health.
“It may sound gruelling, but we hope it will help us understand more about the links between sleep, the body clock and the genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
“This will help design future studies investigating specific sleep-related interventions that could potentially slow down the progression of the disease.”