Since underlying pathology of AD and PD involves the selective loss of specific neuronal population, an important role of the cholinergic system in their etiology, and the ascending pattern of neurodegeneration progression, from REM sleep-related brainstem regulatory structures to basal areas of the brain, in our research we use the rat models of unilateral or bilateral lesion of the nucleus basalis (NB; the main cortical cholinergic nucleus), and nucleus pedunculopontine tegmentum, (PPT; the main cholinergic nucleus of the brainstem - pons) as the experimental models of brain functionally distinct cholinergic neuropathology.

We follow the severity and progression of disorder caused by neurodegenerative process by electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG): by the changes of sleep/wake states and NREM/REM cycling, EEG rhythms or EEG oscillations. We correlate all changes within EEG with the changes in breathing pattern using the methods of linear and nonlinear analysis to estimate the onset, progression, and severity of the disorder. We believe that EEG potentially presents a rich source of still unrevealed information related to functional, physiological, and pathological status of the brain.

Neurobiology of Sleep Lab (European Sleep Research Society)

Project team:

Dr. Jasna Šaponjić, project leader

Dr. Jelena Petrović

Dr. Jelena Ćirić

Ljiljana Radovanović

Collaborators:

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Dr. Miodrag Radulovački

Dr. David W. Carley

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