Cel
The regulation of sleep is essential for our well-being; unfortunately, the relevant homeostatic control mechanisms often fail. The affected individuals suffer from fatigue, decreased motivation and performance, and an increased risk of accidents. Insomnia may lead to depression and other medical problems and even reduce the expected life span. The direct annual cost of insomnia in the U.S. is nearly 14 billion USD; indirect costs are even higher. Improved understanding and more accurate diagnostics of cortical dysfunction in sleep disorders and more effective and better-targeted treatment would give enormous benefits to both patients and to the society. We propose to launch the first integrated effort to study the different aspects of sleep regulation at the genetic, molecular, cellular, and network levels. The consortium consist of highly qualified scientific groups covering all areas of basic sleep research and complemented by specialists in human genomics, clinical and adenosine research. One SME company is included in the consortium. The proposal makes extensive use of the existing, representative DMA data bank recently collected in Finland and studies the correlations between polymorphisms in genes associated with sleep regulation and the behavioural phenotype assessed by extensive questionnaires and by a health examination. To study cortical functionality and state in humans at the network level, we use and further develop novel tools including high-density EEG and MRI-assisted navigated TMS/EEG. The latter technique allows one to study local cortical excitability and time-resolved area-to-area functional connectivity. The project aims at simplifying the TMS/EEG technology, especially its software, in order to make the technique suitable for routine dignostic use. Clinical and commercial exploitation will be seriously addressed to enable a wide impact of the work.
Dziedzina nauki
Zaproszenie do składania wniosków
FP6-2004-LIFESCIHEALTH-5
Zobacz inne projekty w ramach tego zaproszenia
System finansowania
STIP - Specific Targeted Innovation ProjectKoordynator
HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO, HELSINKI
Finlandia