Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Narcolepsy is a serious sleep disorder that affects millions of individuals worldwide. One of its main symptoms is cataplexy, the sudden and rapid loss of muscle tone during wakefulness. Cataplexy greatly reduces the quality of life of narcoleptic individuals and affects their ability to participate in everyday activities including working, driving, and socializing. Despite the severity of cataplexy, the brain pathways that underlie this symptom are not well understood. Interestingly, cataplexy is often triggered by strong, positive emotions. One brain area, called the amygdala, is thought to promote cataplexy because its main function is to process emotions. The purpose of my project is to determine the role of the amygdala in triggering cataplexy. To do this, I will use a powerful new technique called pharmacogenetics, which involves introducing a special protein into brain cells that can alter the cell's activity when a certain drug is present. This technique allows me to control specific types of cells in the brain to either increase or decrease their activity, making it possible to understand the role of a specific brain area in producing a behaviour of interest. In this case, I will be controlling the activity of cells in the amygdala to determine their effect on eliciting cataplexy. The results of this study will identify a new component in the brain pathway underlying cataplexy, improve our physiological understanding of narcolepsy, and provide clinical insights into treating this debilitating sleep disorder.