Detailed project information

This project aims to reveal behavioral, cognitive and neural correlates of chronic poor sleep, daytime fatigue and sleepiness. Insomnia and fatigue are among the most frequent health complaints. We shall refer to this set of complaints as ?vigilance disturbances?. Whereas the importance of a refreshing sleep is becoming increasingly recognized, only few neuroscientists lie awake of insomnia. Building upon the applicant?s expertise on disturbed sleep in aging, the present project aims to place his group at the international forefront of research on the neurobiology of vigilance disturbances.

The neurobiology of vigilance disturbances is hardly known. Why do so many people complain of poor sleep even if their polysomnography suggests otherwise, as in ?sleep-state-misperception?? Why do others sleep sound and wake up well-rested even during periods of limited sleep or stress? At what threshold of habitual sleep-restriction do health consequences like fatigue and obesity become a risk? Are genetic differences involved and, if so, in what neuronal signaling pathways? The present project initiates the steps that are essential to answer such questions; some on the short term, others on the long term. First, state-of-the-art behavioral, cognitive and brain imaging research tools will be applied to yield parameter signatures ? possible endophenotypes - specific to brain function in vigilance disturbances. Simultaneously, a web-based Sleep Register will be instigated as a first necessary step to track subgroups and families with highly coherent signatures. Ambulatory and laboratory assessments will then be applied to narrow down the selection, yielding the delineated phenotypes that will be required for the future genotyping and postmortem neuropathology approaches necessary to obtain further insight into the neuronal signaling pathways involved. As a spin-off, the Sleep Register will also allow for large-scale studies on the epidemiology and functional consequences of insomnia.