Characterisation of brain function and vascular pathology with a focus on autonomic dysfunctions during sleep

Project description

This project is part of the SLEEP-NEURO-PATH research network, which is coordinated by the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim and has a total of three partners.

ME/CFS is a severe neuroimmunological disease that often leads to a high degree of physical and mental disability. The overall goal of the project is to characterise biological mechanisms associated with brain dysfunction in ME/CFS, such as cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, headaches, sleep dsfunction, and hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli. The activity of specific nerve cell networks during sleep can serve as a "window into brain function." Selected sleep characteristics, such as sleep spindles, reflect the functional integrity of neuronal networks that are involved in important functions such as memory formation, sleep stabilisation, and processing of sensory stimuli. Dysfunctions of these networks are connected with multimodal imaging and biochemical studies of the function of the vascular bed. These are supplemented by the determination of polygenic risk profiles. This approach makes it possible to characterise biological mechanisms at the system level and to derive predictors for ME/CFS at the individual level, offering new approaches for future personalised therapy.

The aim of the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel is in particular to investigate sleep-related breathing parameters and changes in the autonomic nervous system using heart rate variability. Another focus is the analysis of cognitive abnormalities as a possible correlate of post-exertional malaise and of disease processes in small blood vessels using biomarkers for vascular pathology. Follow-up studies should show whether clinically significant changes are associated with measurable pathophysiological correlates.

(Description adapted from project website: see link above)