Email: [email protected]

  Research Area:

Neurobiology, aging, cognitive behavior, circadian rhythmicity, Alzheimer's Disease, drug screening, sleep

  Research Summary:

Project I: Alzheimer Models: Alzheimer's disease is associated with disruptions in sleep including fragmentation of nocturnal sleep with frequent nighttime arousals, an advance in the phase of sleep onset, decreases in amount of slow wave sleep and possibly decreases in the amount of REM sleep (Bliwise, 1993) and a decrease in the amplitude of circadian. These alterations in sleep are a major cause of institutionalization. The molecular basis of this sleep disruption is unknown. We hypothesize that increased cytokine expression in the brain and especially in the anterior hypothalamus, may be a moleculr alteration in Alzheimer's disease that substantially contributes to disrupted sleep. The CNS inflammatory response characteristic of AD is modeled in an animal. Cytokine mRNA expression is examined in the hypothalamus of rats showing disrupted sleep/wake cycles induced by chronic interventricular anyloid infusion. These experiments will help define one molecular mechanism responsible for the sleep abnormality of Alzheimer's disease. Project II: Regulation of Sleep: The mechanisms that regulate developmental changes in sleep are the focus of these rearch projects. Dr. Richardson has assumed a principal role in these studies. These projects are designed to study the relationship between puberty, sleep and intrinsic properties of the circadian oscillator in an animal model. These studies will define the time course of sexual maturation in a precocial species, the degu.