Enhancement

Slow wave enhancement to improve economic behaviors in chronically sleep-restricted healthy subjects
Christian Baumann (USZ, UZH), Angelina Maric (USZ, UZH), Helga Fehr-Duda (UZH), Ernst Fehr (UZH), Reto Huber (UZH, Kinderspital)

People with sleep restriction may be more prone to accept risks in which there is only a small probability of a large gain. Likewise, longer run sleep restriction may influence people's willingness to objectively assess their abilities. We will assess neuroeconomic behaviors after chronic sleep restriction and investigate whether enhancing deep sleep with SleepLoop in chronically sleep-restricted healthy subjects improves such behaviors, i.e. reverses the detrimental effect of chronic sleep restriction.

Slow wave enhancement to improve well-being and prognosis of Parkinson patients and examine underlying mechanisms in animal models
Christian Baumann (USZ, UZH), Reto Huber (UZH, Kinderspital), Walter Karlen (ETH), Philipp Kaufmann (USZ, UZH), Paul Unschuld (PUK), Roger Gassert (ETH)

The relationships between deep sleep and Parkinson disease have been established at three levels: symptoms, neurobiological mechanisms and disease progression. We will investigate the beneficial effects of slow wave enhancement with the SleepLoop device in Parkinson patients as well as in a transgenic Parkinson mouse model. The expected clinical benefit of this non-invasive approach for Parkinson patients will be immediate. In the future, it might be tested in a large variety of other protein accumulation disorders (Alzheimer, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, etc.).

Slow wave enhancement to improve outcome after pediatric traumatic brain injury
Reto Huber (UZH, Kinderspital), Walter Karlen (ETH), Christian Baumann (USZ, UZH), Barbara Brotschi (UZH, Kinderspital)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health concern affecting about 12 % of the general population worldwide, particularly children and adolescents. Sleep enhancement after TBI could be critical for the reduction of diffuse axonal damage after TBI and therefore for outcome. We will investigate whether enhancing slow waves with the SleepLoop device improves radiological and clinical outcome. If it proves beneficial, this approach might be immediately included in clinical practice, due to its non-confounding nature.

Development of a method of acoustic modulation of slow-wave sleep for rodents and its implementation in traumatic brain injury rats
Christian Baumann (USZ, UZH), Daniela Noain (USZ, UZH)

High slow wave activity during sleep (SWA) is essential for efficient intra- and extracellular protein clearance in the rodent brain. Pharmacological enhancement of SWA and TBI rats has been associated with preserved cognition after TBI and reduced posttraumatic diffuse axonal injury. In this project, we will develop a method of acoustic stimulation of SWA in rats and assess the effect of closed-loop stimulation of SWA immediately after trauma on TBI outcomes in this model.

Proof-of-concept study using closed-loop auditory stimulation during sleep to improve attentional functions in ADHD children
Reto Huber (UZH, Kinderspital)

Slow wave activity during sleep (SWA) is reduced in children with an Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD) and SWA over the prefrontal cortex correlates with vigilant attention. In this proof-of-concept study, we will test whether boosting SWA by closed-loop auditory stimulation can improve attentional functions in ADHD patients.