Descripción del proyecto
Estudio del sueño como estímulo de la memoria para pacientes con Parkinson
La enfermedad de Parkinson (EP) se caracteriza por una serie de síntomas motores. La rehabilitación implica diferentes adaptaciones motoras que se aprenden para mantener el funcionamiento diario. Sin embargo, los beneficios del entrenamiento son escasos, ya que a los pacientes con EP les resulta difícil recordar lo que han aprendido. En este contexto, el proyecto TARGET-SLEEP investigará cómo el sueño puede facilitar la consolidación de la memoria motora. Por ejemplo, el equipo del proyecto comparará el efecto de una siesta de dos horas con y sin reactivación de la memoria dirigida. Los hallazgos arrojarán luz sobre cómo los tratamientos del sueño pueden estimular la eficacia de la rehabilitación y mejorar el bienestar de los pacientes con EP y de la población que envejece en general.
Objetivo
Rehabilitation is an important therapeutic strategy for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), whereby motor adaptations are learned to maintain daily functioning. However, patients often present difficulty consolidating newly learned skills into long-term memory, which reduces the benefits of training. Interventions that enhance consolidation are therefore projected to diminish the impact of PD. Sleep facilitates motor memory consolidation in healthy adults, especially in combination with targeted memory reactivation (TMR). TMR works by adding associated auditory stimuli during learning, which are replayed during sleep and thus reinforce the recently formed neural connections. Importantly, recent work has suggested that consolidation during sleep may be preserved in PD, but robust findings are lacking and have not involved TMR. This knowledge gap is astonishing given the potential benefits that can be gained by integrating sleep interventions into rehabilitation. My objective is to address this imperative by investigating the effect of sleep on motor memory consolidation by experimentally manipulating exposure to sleep and TMR for the first time. Concretely, I will compare the effect of a 2-hour daytime nap with or without TMR to that of a wake control period in PD and age-matched controls. I will use a validated motor sequence task to test for behavioral markers of motor learning and apply state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques to study the imprint of neural network changes underlying consolidation. My training objectives include teaching and supervising students in rehabilitation–related neuroscientific topics and research leadership development. I will also implement a rigorous dissemination and communication plan to achieve optimal societal impact of my research findings. I anticipate my MSCA to spark new sleep interventions that boost the effectiveness of rehabilitation and improve the wellbeing of our ageing population, in particular those affected by PD.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF-EF-RI - RI – Reintegration panelCoordinador
3000 Leuven
Bélgica