Study Rationale: Recent studies suggest that sleep problems can worsen Parkinson’s disease (PD) by affecting chemicals in the brain and causing inflammation. It's also possible that sleep problems could hasten the progression of the disease. Based on previous research, we believe that finding ways to stabilize sleep patterns could be a new approach to helping people with PD. Alleviating sleep issues could also help to slow PD progression and improve people's quality of life.
Hypothesis: We hypothesize that stabilizing sleep problems in individuals with PD may slow disease progression and improve overall health. We will test this hypothesis in preclinical PD models to better understand this connection and develop new treatments.
Study Design: To study sleep problems in PD and test new drugs to improve both sleep and PD symptoms, we will first examine sleep patterns in mice with PD-like symptoms and assess how sleep disturbances affect their memory and movement. We will then administer new drugs for 12 to 16 weeks and compare these animals to untreated mice to assess whether the drugs improve their sleep and PD symptoms. Our goal is to find new ways to help people with PD sleep better and feel healthier overall.
Impact on Diagnosis/Treatment of Parkinson’s disease: By studying how sleep problems affect PD and testing new drugs in preclinical PD models, we hope to improve both sleep and PD symptoms. This work could lead to new treatments that make life better for people with PD and their caregivers.
Next Steps for Development: If we discover that improving sleep enhances memory and movement in a preclinical model, our findings could kickstart a wave of clinicals to determine whether the drugs provide similar benefits for people with PD.