Slow-wave sleep enhancement to treat epilepsy (F31NS149760) – Project Grant to University Of California, Davis

Slow-wave sleep enhancement to treat epilepsy

Active Project Grant Awarded Dec 15, 2026 Last action Jun 19, 2026

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Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract: Epilepsy is a common and debilitating neurological disorder that affects over 70 million people worldwide. The ongoing development of antiseizure medications has been unsuccessful in addressing patient needs, with seizures remaining uncontrolled for a third of patients and most experiencing drug side effects. Therefore, there is a critical need for alternative approaches to treating epilepsy. Sleep and epilepsy share a complex bidirectional relationship in which sleep disturbances are likely driven by epilepsy and can worsen epilepsy. Notably, the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in epileptic patients improves sleep quality and simultaneously improves seizure control. However, no study has investigated whether directly enhancing sleep improves epileptic outcomes in humans or animal models of epilepsy. This has been largely due to a lack of methods to selectively enhance sleep and rigorously analyze chronic sleep and epilepsy datasets. The training team has overcome these technical barriers and, for the first time to our knowledge, will determine the effects of enhancing slow- wave sleep (SWS) in two carefully selected, distinct mouse models of human epilepsy. SWS in rodents is synonymous with non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and was selected for enhancement as IT comprises a majority of rodent sleep, has well-established roles in physiological and cognitive functioning, and recent evidence in humans suggests that IT reduces seizures compared to the lighter stages of NREM sleep. Prolonged SWS with high intensity, measured as slow-wave activity (SWA, 0.5-4 HZ) in the electroencephalogram, will be induced through chemogenetic activation of the gabaergic neurons in the parafacial zone. I hypothesize that SWS enhancement will reduce seizures and interictal epileptiform discharges in two distinct mouse models of human epilepsy. In aim 1, I will determine the effect of SWS enhancement in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy, as IT is the most common form of epilepsy, highly drug-resistant, and features seizures primarily during wakefulness. In aim 2, I will assess the effect of SWS enhancement in a mouse model of autosomal-dominant sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy, a rare genetic epilepsy in which seizures in humans occur nearly entirely during sleep. By contrasting these models, we will gain an understanding of the generality or limitations of SWS enhancement to reduce epileptogenicity. This work is critical for the large, untreated epileptic population and relevant due to the ongoing development and success of SWS enhancement techniques in humans. This project will be performed under the mentorship of DR. Nigel pedersen (SPONSOR) and DR. Christelle anaclet (CO-SPONSOR), who are renowned for their contributions to the sleep-wake and epilepsy fields. I will receive rigorous training in murine surgery, chemogenetics, and electrophysiological analysis of sleep-wake states and epilepsy. The proposed research is tailored to provide me with the basis for a future career as an independent investigator conducting sleep and epilepsy research.

Quick answers

Who received award F31NS149760?

F31NS149760 was awarded to University Of California, Davis by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (National Institutes of Health) on December 15, 2026.

How much is award F31NS149760 worth?

$43,749 has been obligated on F31NS149760.

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