Principal Investigator:   Thomas F. Anders, M.D.
Co-Principal Investigator:  Beth Goodlin-Jones, Ph.D.

Children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders are known to have significant sleep problems. However, less is known about the kind of sleep problem, the severity of the problem and the continuity of the problem over time. This study uses actigraphy and videosomnography in the child's home to study the kinds of sleep disorders with which children with autism present. Two comparison groups (typically developing children and children with developmental delay but without autism) are matched in chronological age and developmental level, and contrasted to a group of children with autism. Each group of 60 children is studied on three occasions of one week's duration over a six month period. In addition daytime measures of sleepiness and attention are obtained on each occasion. This study will attempt to define the types of sleep disorders present in these children and determine whether any of the sleep disorders are specific to diagnosis. Moreover, the study will assess whether daytime performance is impacted by night time sleep disruption.

Principal Investigator:  Irwin Feinberg, M.D.

Sleep serves a recuperative function for the brain. This need for recuperation accumulates during waking and is met during nonrapid-eye movement (NREM) sleep.  The slow wave EEG that characterizes NREM sleep appears to reflect the intensity of the recuperation process.  In the VA/UCD sleep lab we are studying two aspects of this homeostatic sleep regulation.

We are investigating in humans how aging affects sleep regulation.  Through nap studies we are comparing the recuperative processes of sleep in young adult and elderly subjects. In rats we are investigating the role of the NMDA receptor in sleep regulation.  We have found that drugs that block the NMDA receptor greatly increase subsequent NREM slow wave EEG.  We are investigating related drugs and attempting to determine where in the brain they act to increase slow wave EEG.