BACKGROUND: Autism Spectrum Disorder is a range of neurodevelopmental disorders that typical manifest as social deficits, delayed or impaired communication skills, and repetitive behaviors in day-to-day life. Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often present with other concurrent clinical disorders. Sleep disorders (SD) and sleep issues are highly prevalent in ASD children and rank as one of the most common concurrent clinical disorders. Prevalence rates vary widely, ranging from 40 to 80 percent, as compared with that of typically developing children in which prevalence rates are approximately 30 percent. Sleep problems can have an impact on daytime health and may result in neurocognitive dysfunction and behavioral disruptions. A cyclical pattern arises: individuals with autism are observed to have sleep difficulties, which may exacerbate autistic traits, which can in turn further worsen their quality of sleep. Therefore, sleep disorders may have wide ranging effects on daytime functioning, developmental progress, and quality of life for children with ASD. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this thesis is to provide a review of the research status of ASD, SD, the interplay between these two disorders, and therapeutic interventions that have been researched or are currently being investigated. A goal of this thesis is also to recommend areas of future investigation based on the current state of autism research. METHODS: A literature review of studies, abstracts, and clinical trial data relating to ASD, SD, and other comorbidities observed in ASD was performed. CONCLUSION: Current models and theories on the relationship between ASD and SD suggest that the underlying etiology of autism itself may contribute to sleep troubles, and might even have wide-reaching impacts on other unrelated aspects of ASD. Gastrointestinal, otolaryngologic, and psychiatric comorbidities are observed in autism and may affect sleep in these patients, but the mechanism by which this occurs is unclear. There are many treatments for sleep troubles in ASD such as melatonin and behavioral interventions, with varying success. Much work is required to understand the underlying mechanism between both autism and sleep disorders. There is also a need for more efficacious therapeutic interventions, but there are multiple clinical trials underway which may have promising results. Future studies should also incorporate robust data-collection instruments such as polysomnography to validate findings. / 2021-06-14T00:00:00Z

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) whereby abnormal autoimmune responses cause damage to myelin, the lipid-rich layer that surrounds and insulates axons. This results in interruptions in communication within the CNS and between the CNS and peripheral nervous system (PNS). This dysfunction contributes to a variety of symptoms that negatively impact the lives of individuals with MS. Sleep disturbances and memory difficulties are two common challenges faced by MS patients, but are not comprehensively understood within the MS literature. Additionally, despite general consensus with regard to the important role that sleep plays in memory function, studies investigating the links between sleep disturbance and memory in MS are sparse. As such, the purpose of this dissertation was to determine whether sleep disturbance helps to explain differential memory functioning in individuals with MS, both cross-sectionally and over time. A sample of 165 early MS patients participated in cognitive measures, gait assessments, sensorimotor assessments, and self-report questionnaires once at baseline, and again 3 years after their initial assessment. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data were collected at baseline. The primary predictor variable for the present study was sleep disturbance, as measured by two validated self-report measures of sleep functioning, the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). This study’s primary outcome was memory function, which was assessed by the CANTAB Paired Associate Learning (CANTAB PAL), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Revised (BVMT-R), Selective Reminding Test (SRT), and Verbal Paired Associate Learning (VPAL). Additional predictors included mood, disease burden, estimated premorbid intelligence, and demographic variables (age, sex, BMI). As hypothesized, results revealed that changes in sleep significantly predicted changes in memory over time. Patients with stable sleep and worsened sleep demonstrated an average decline in memory z-score from baseline to follow up, whereas patients whose sleep improved demonstrated an average improvement in memory z-score. Cross-sectionally, the presence of sleep disturbance significantly predicted worse memory performance when the ISI was used a measure of sleep disturbance, but not when the PSQI was used as a measure of sleep disturbance. Taken together, results highlight the importance of acknowledging sleep disturbance as an important predictor of memory function in individuals with early MS, paving the way for highly needed efforts toward prevention and intervention. However, findings should be extended to both objective and subjective sleep measures beyond the ISI.

No description available.

An electronically-controlled positive-displacement bellows-type air pump has been developed in the Bio-medical Engineering Laboratory for the treatment of adult Sleep Apnea Syndrome (SAS). An electronically-controlled positive-displacement pump has been employed in order to eliminate the pressure regulator and accompanying noise of present therapeutic devices. The positive-displacement pump is found to quietly and effectively provide the required airway pressures for the treatment of adult Sleep Apnea Syndrome. New developments in the reduction of the size and noise levels of current therapeutic devices, however, preclude mass production of the bellows-type pump because of its size disadvantage. The custom nasal mask and exhalation valve, control system, pressure-monitoring alarm system, and the controlled humidifier of the positive-displacement pump should be incorporated within the present fanâ type Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (NCPAP) system to provide quieter, more comfortable, and safer NCPAP therapy. Before the design and development of the positive displacement NCPAP pump is detailed in this thesis, however, the problem of adult Sleep Apnea Syndrome is introduced, available therapies are investigated, and the current NCPAP therapy system is examined. / Master of Science

Yu, Siu Lung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-124). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / Chinese Abstract --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.viii / List of Tables --- p.x / List of Abbreviations --- p.xi / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- General introduction of sleep --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Sleep disorders --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Classification systems for sleep disorders --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Insomnia --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Definition --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Consequences of insomnia --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Prevalence --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Subtypes of insomnia --- p.9 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- Causes --- p.12 / Chapter 1.2.6 --- Treatment of insomnia --- p.13 / Chapter 1.2.6.1 --- Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.6.2 --- Pharmacological treatment for insomnia --- p.17 / Chapter 1.3 --- Traditional Chinese medicine and herbs in SD formula --- p.22 / Chapter 1.4 --- Drosophila model for studying sleep --- p.25 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Drosophila as a disease model --- p.25 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Drosophila Sleep --- p.26 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Similarity of Drosophila and mammalian sleep --- p.26 / Chapter 1.4.4 --- Methods for measuring Drosophila sleep --- p.29 / Chapter 1.4.4.1 --- Surrogate measurement of sleep in Drosophila --- p.31 / Chapter 1.5 --- Objectives of study --- p.33 / Chapter 2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.35 / Chapter 2.1 --- Preparation of the Sleep Disorder (SD) extract --- p.35 / Chapter 2.2 --- Establishment of the Drosophila sleep model --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Drosophila culture --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.1.1 --- Fly stock --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.1.2 --- Fly food --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.1.3 --- Culture environment --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Preparation of flies for experiments --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Agar food and drug preparation --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Measurement of activity and sleep in fly --- p.40 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Determining the effects of SD extract on Drosophila sleep --- p.40 / Chapter 2.2.5.1 --- Data analysis --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Test of amount of food intake for different dosages of SD using food dye --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.7 --- Survival test --- p.42 / Chapter 2.3 --- Establishment of the Drosophila caffeine-induced insomnia model --- p.43 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Determining the effects of caffeine on the Drosophila sleep --- p.43 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Determining the effects of SD extract on the Drosophila caffeine-induced insomnia model --- p.43 / Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- HPLC determination of caffeine intake in Drosophila --- p.44 / Chapter 2.3.2.2 --- "Spectrophotometric measurement of caffeine, SD and caffeine-SD solutions" --- p.45 / Chapter 2.4 --- "Expression of Cyp6a8, Djun and Dfos in drug-treated Drosophila heads" --- p.46 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Drug treatment and collection of fly head samples --- p.46 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Total RNA extraction from fly heads --- p.46 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis --- p.48 / Chapter 2.5 --- Determining the effects of SD formula on short-sleep mutants --- p.51 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Fly stocks --- p.51 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Experimental design --- p.51 / Chapter 3. --- Results --- p.53 / Chapter 3.1 --- Establishment of the Drosophila sleep model --- p.53 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Baseline activity and sleep --- p.53 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Effect of SD on Drosophila sleep --- p.55 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Amount of food intake for different dosages of SD --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Effect of SD on the survival of wide-type (CSI) flies --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2 --- Establishment of the caffeine-induced insomnia model in Drosophila --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Effect of Caffeine on Drosophila sleep --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Effect of the SD on the caffeine-induced wakefulness --- p.64 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Validation of caffeine intake by HPLC --- p.68 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- "Spectra of caffeine, SD and caffeine-SD solutions" --- p.72 / Chapter 3.3 --- Effect of SD on the sleep of short-sleep mutants --- p.74 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- fumin mutant --- p.74 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- minisleep mutant --- p.78 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- HkY fly --- p.82 / Chapter 3.4 --- Effect of the SD and caffeine on gene expression --- p.86 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Effect of the SD and caffeine on Cyp6a8 mRNA expression --- p.86 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Effect of the SD and caffeine on Djun mRNA expression --- p.89 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Effect of the SD and caffeine on Dfos mRNA expression --- p.91 / Chapter 4. --- Discussion --- p.93 / Chapter 4.1 --- Rationales for evaluating the effect of SD formula in Drosophila model --- p.94 / Chapter 4.2 --- Establishment of the Drosophila Sleep model --- p.96 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Hypnotic effect of SD in Drosophila --- p.97 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Toxicity of SD extract in fly --- p.98 / Chapter 4.3 --- Effect of SD on Drosophila caffeine-induced insomnia model --- p.100 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Drug administration in Drosophila --- p.102 / Chapter 4.4 --- Effect of SD on Short-sleep mutant --- p.105 / Chapter 4.5 --- Study of gene expression by SD --- p.108 / Chapter 4.6 --- Limitations of the model --- p.112 / Chapter 5. --- Conclusion and Future Prospects --- p.115 / Chapter 5.1 --- Conclusion --- p.115 / Chapter 5.2 --- Future prospects --- p.115 / References --- p.117

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

The research study evaluated the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention for sleep maintenance insomnia in older adults. Twenty-two elders who spent 60 minutes or more awake during the night on a minimum of three nights per week for at least six months received treatment. The study utilized an experimental design with repeated measures. The subjects were randomly assigned to either an immediate or delayed (waiting list control) treatment group. Subjects completed daily sleep diaries and several other measures. The behavioral intervention was a treatment package consisting of sleep restriction therapy, stimulus control instructions, sleep education, and an optional daytime nap. A six-week treatment program consisting of four weekly classes and two weekly telephone interventions was implemented. Between and within group differences were identified using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Post-hoc analyses were performed to identify significant differences. The between group analysis of sleep behaviors revealed an improvement in wake after sleep onset and sleep efficiency for the immediate treatment group. After intervention, the delayed treatment group improved on the same sleep behaviors as well as total sleep time. The therapeutic improvement was maintained at the three month follow-up. Sleep-wake impairment, dysfunctional cognitions, and presleep anxiety were reduced for both groups. The mood measures indicated that the subjects were not depressed prior to treatment and remained nondepressed following intervention. State and trait anxiety levels decreased. Favorable ratings for therapy evaluation were received. The majority of subjects felt they were compliant with treatment and had corresponding decreases in wake after sleep onset. In addition to statistical significance, the clinical significance of the study was established. Insomnia in older adults can be effectively treated using nonpharmacological intervention. Replication of the study is warranted as well as analysis to examine moderating factors affecting treatment outcomes. An effort should be made to increase the demographic diversity of subjects in future studies. Alternative treatment implementation modalities and settings other than the community should be considered for further research.

Diploma thesis deals with the problems of sleep of the patients in intensive care. Sleep is the very basic of human needs and its correct pattern is crucial for any activity of an organism. A person who is sick has an increased need for sleep and are among the most frustrated needs. The theoretical part defines sleep as a basic human need to deal with physiology and sleep disorders. I include a chapter dealing with intensive care and aspects of the environment that affect sleep of the patients. The main objective is to determine whether the need for sleep of the patients is saturated or not. I also set milestones as to gain information regarding patients sleeping pattern at home.To find out, what influence nurses in approaching sleep as a matter and to look for factors that have an influence of some sort from the nurses point of view regarding the sleeping pattern same as from the patients view of the matter. In the empirical part, I reached the set goals through interviews and questionnaires. Thanks to interviews with patients, I discovered that need of sleep of patients in intensive care is not saturated.Out of the 30 respondents I interviewed, 17 of them therefore deemed their sleep as poor and insufficient. I also worked out the factors that have the greatest negative effect on the need of...

( Sleep Problems in Children and Adolescents ) The main topic of the thesis is the issue of sleep in children and adolescents. The theoretical part deals with the physiology of sleep and sleep disorders. The practical part were processed by means of qualitative and quantitative research . The aim of our thesis and our research was to determine the incidence of sleep disorders in different age categories. The aim of the qualitative part was to determine the causes and effects of sleep disorders in children and adolescents. In practice , the qualitative part certainly importance , especially for teachers , case reports indicate that some other sleep disorders affect child development , behavior and school performance. In this thesis we compare the quantitative survey targeted four designated groups of children . One group of preschool children are 1-6 years old . The second group consists of a sample of pupils of primary school 7 - 11 years . The penultimate group of children at the elementary school , aged 12 - 15 years. The last group are secondary school students aged 16-18 years . At the beginning of quantitative research, we set three hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 were not confirmed . Our research shows that pupils of primary schools suffer from sleepwalking more (9%) than children of preschool age...

Le sommeil joue un rôle majeur dans les processus de consolidation des apprentissages. Les performances des sujets lors de la restitution de tests de mémoire sont meilleures lorsque les phases d'apprentissage et de restitution sont séparées par une période de sommeil plutôt que par une période d'éveil. Les effets du sommeil sur ces processus de consolidation ont largement été étudiés chez l'adulte, notamment à l'aide de protocoles de privation de sommeil spécifiques. Néanmoins, l'utilisation de ces protocoles de privation de sommeil est impossible chez les enfants pour des raisons d'éthique. Nos connaissances actuelles relatives aux effets du sommeil sur les processus de consolidation des apprentissages dépendants du sommeil sont donc très limitées chez l'enfant. Les troubles du sommeil touchent une proportion non négligeable des enfants et ont des répercussions diurnes importantes, notamment au niveau académique. De manière surprenante, bien que la majorité des enfants ayant des troubles du sommeil soit en échec scolaire, l'impact de ces troubles du sommeil sur les processus de consolidation des apprentissages dépendants du sommeil a très rarement été évalué. L'objectif de ce projet de thèse était donc d'évaluer l'impact des troubles du sommeil sur ces processus de consolidation. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons sélectionné 3 pathologies présentant des atteintes spécifiques du sommeil : la narcolepsie, le syndrome d'apnées obstructives du sommeil (SAOS) et l'épilepsie bénigne de l'enfant à pointes centro-temporales (EPCT). Nous avons soumis ces groupes d'enfants ainsi qu'un groupe d'enfants contrôles appariés en âge et en sexe à des tests de consolidation mnésique dont la phase d'apprentissage était réalisée le soir avant le coucher et la phase de restitution le matin après la nuit post-apprentissage. Afin d'avoir la vision la plus complète possible de l'impact des troubles du sommeil sur les processus de consolidation des apprentissages, ces tests de consolidation mnésique impliquaient des apprentissages de nature déclarative (tâches verbale, visuo-spatiale et émotionnelle) et non-déclarative (tâche procédurale). Nous avons également mesuré les capacités attentionnelles des enfants avant l'apprentissage et avant la restitution des tests de consolidation mnésique. Les résultats que nous avons obtenus semblent indiquer que la narcolepsie, le SAOS et l'EPCT auraient un impact négatif sur les processus de consolidation des apprentissages visuo-spatiaux dépendants du sommeil. En revanche, ces 3 pathologies ne semblent pas avoir d'influence sur ces processus dans le cadre des apprentissages verbal, émotionnel et procédural. Ces résultats suggèrent donc que les aspects concernant la consolidation nocturne des apprentissages devraient être intégrés dans les évaluations neuropsychologiques rentrant en compte dans le diagnostic des enfants porteurs de ces pathologies. De plus, les suivis pédagogique et rééducatif de ces enfants devraient être reconsidérés / Sleep plays a key role in sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes. Subject’s performances during the restitution phase of memory tests are better when the learning and restitution are separated by a sleep period than by a wake period. Effects of sleep on memory consolidation processes have widely been investigated in adults by using specific sleep deprivation protocols. However, these sleep deprivation protocols can’t be used in children for ethical reasons. Thus, our knowledge about sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes in children is extremely restricted. Sleep disorders concern a large proportion of children and they have an important range of daytime consequences including academic achievement. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the majority of children with sleep disorders display school difficulties, the impact of these sleep disorders on sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes has scarcely been investigated. This thesis project aimed at evaluating the impact of sleep disorders on sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes. In order to reach this objective, we selected 3 pathologies with specific sleep impairments: narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and benign childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (BECTS). We have submitted these children, as well as a control group children matched on age and sex, to memory consolidation tests whereby the learning phase took place in the evening before sleep and the restitution phase took place after the post-learning night. In the way to have the more complete understanding of the impact of sleep disorders on memory consolidation processes, these memory consolidation tests included declarative (verbal, visuo-spatial and emotional tasks) and non-declarative (procedural task) learnings. Moreover, attention ability was measured before learning and restitution phases. Results indicated that narcolepsy, SAOS and EPCT impacted sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes of the visuo-spatial task. However, no impact of these pathologies on sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes of the verbal, emotional and procedural tasks has been found. These results suggest that nocturnal consolidation aspects of learning’s should be integrated in neuropsychological assessments accounting for sleep disorders diagnosis. Moreover, pedagogic and re-educational supervisions of these children should be reconsidered