Neuropsychiatric Sleep Disorders

Description

The working group deals with the causes, pathophysiology and treatment of neuropsychiatric sleep disorders. There are two main focuses: On the one hand, studies on the neurobiology and psychology of sleep-specific disorders, especially non-organic insomnia, aim to gain a better understanding of the etiology model with the aim of improving existing treatment strategies. On the other hand, the group investigates sleep-related neurobiological correlates of mental illnesses. The basic assumption behind this is that changes in sleep architecture can provide a window into the neurobiology of mental illnesses and thus contribute to their understanding. Their current interest are in particular: a) Deficient sleep spindle activity in schizophrenia: effects on cognitive functions (sleep-dependent memory consolidation) and underlying genetic causes (in cooperation with the Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry) b) Mechanisms of circadian rhythm disturbances in the context of etiology models of mental illnesses (in the context of a cooperation with stem cell research, Prof. Koch) c) Mechanisms of altered vigilance regulation in non-organic insomnia - transdiagnostic arousal disorder? d) Cognitive correlates of hyperarousal in non-organic insomnia; further development of the disorder-specific psychotherapy approach for insomnia; Inclusion of metacognitive content e) Genetic causes of non-organic insomnia (in cooperation with the Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry) f) Pathophysiology of other neuropsychiatric sleep disorders from the spectrum of diseases diagnosed in the ZI sleep laboratory, such as restless legs syndrome, hypersomnic disorders and circadian sleep-wake rhythm disorders (Description adapted from working group website: see link above)