Grant: Project Grant

REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) affects 2-6% of the elderly population and is characterized by excessive movement during REM sleep. These movements are typically so violent that they result in patient injuries, which often require medical attention. However, the most alarming aspect of RBD is that 80-90% of patients eventually develop a brain disease like Parkinson's disease or dementia after being diagnosed with RBD. During healthy REM sleep, most of the body's muscles are paralyzed. However, in RBD muscle paralysis is lost, which causes RBD patients to actively move during REM sleep. Because RBD is tightly associated with brain degeneration and this degeneration begins in brain regions that cause REM sleep paralysis, it is hypothesized that RBD is caused by degeneration of the brain regions that control REM sleep paralysis. However, it still remains unclear which cells in the brainstem control REM sleep paralysis and if damage to these cell circuits underlies RBD. This medical research will be of importance to Canadians because it identifies the brain mechanisms that cause healthy REM sleep and it determines if degeneration of these regions causes RBD.