Brain Maturation and Sleep

University Children's Hospital, Zurich90 enrolled

Overview

In this study, the investigator evaluates whether there are age-specific diurnal changes in markers of cortical plasticity in children, adolescents and adults. The question will be investigated by the quantification of brain metabolites and structural brain volumes using magnet resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiological markers using sleep encephalography (sleep EEG). In a second step, it will be tested how these markers of cortical plasticity change depending on a modulation of sleep by applying tones during deep sleep.

Given that children and adolescents undergo entirely different maturational processes (children show an increase, adolescents a decrease in synapse density) larger diurnal changes in children are expected compared to adolescents concerning brain metabolites and structural markers. These cortical changes in synapse density are thought to be reflected in electrophysiological markers in the sleep EEG (children show a higher slow wave activity, adolescents a reduced slow wave activity). With the modulation of the deep (slow wave) sleep by playing short, low volume tones, the investigators want to test if there is a causal relationship between slow wave sleep and markers of cortical plasticity.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Healthy

Interventions

Playing tones during deep sleepOTHER

Playing tones time locked to slow waves (Duration:50ms, volume: 50dB)

sham conditionOTHER

in the sham condition, no tones will be played

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 8 YearsMax age: 30 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Male and female subjects 8 to 30 years of age, * good general health Status * right-handedness, * Written informed consent after participants' information Exclusion Criteria: * sleep disorders (insomnia, sleep disordered breathing, restless legs syndrome) * sleep complaints in general * irregular sleep-wake rhythm * daytime sleep * travelling across a time zone within the last month * diseases or lesions of the central nervous system * psychiatric diseases * learning disability * skin allergy or very sensitive skin * acute pediatric disease * pregnancy * drug and medication use and abuse * nicotine use * high caffeine consumption (\>2 servings/day (\>160 mg caffeine); including coffee, tea, white and dark chocolate, coca cola, energy drink) * Alcohol consumption in children and adolescents under 16 years * high alcohol consumption in adults (\> 1 standard serving/day (\>14 mg Alcohol)) * high alcohol consumption in adolescents aged 16 years and above (\> 3-4 Standard servings per week)

Locations (1)

University Children's Hospital Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Diurnal changes in brain metabolites

concentration of brain metabolites measured by MR spectroscopy change from evening to morning

Time frame: 3 years

Secondary Outcomes

electrophysiological markers change in dependance of the diurnal variation of brain metabolites

electrophysiological markers (sleep EEG) change in dependance of the diurnal variation of brain metabolites

Time frame: 3 years

structural markers change in dependance of the diurnal variation of brain metabolites

structural markers (MR volumes) change in dependance of the diurnal variation of brain metabolites

Time frame: 3 years

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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