PROJECT 3SEROTONIN AND SLEEP DISORDERED BREATHING IN PARKINSON DISEASESleep disturbance and excessive daytime somnolence are important non-motor/non-dopaminergicfeatures of Parkinson disease (PD). Sleep disruption in PD is likely multifactorial but recent evidencesuggests a high prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in PD, a surprising finding in view of thetendency for PD subjects to lose weight during their illness. PD is clearly a multisystemneurodegeneration with evidence indicating degeneration of central serotoninergic systems. Caudalbrainstem serotoninergic neurons are key actors in controlling upper airway patency during sleep anddegeneration of this group of neurons would be a plausible cause of sleep disordered breathing in PD.Our hypothesis is that loss of caudal brainstem serotoninergic neurons causes SDB in PD. We willevaluate this hypothesis by comparing the caudal brainstem [11C]DASB binding, a measure ofserotoninergic neurons, in PD subjects with and without SDB. We predict greater loss of caudal brainstem[11C]DASB binding in PD subjects with SBD than in PD subjects without SDB. We predict an inversecorrelation between indices of SDB and caudal brainstem [11C]DASB binding in PD subjects.
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