Sleep/wake disruptions in a neurodegenerative tauopathy mouse model: Role of tau and therapeutic potential of orexin receptor antagonists

Abstract

Sleep disturbances and neurodegenerative diseases are prevalent in an aging population and represent a major health concern. Mounting evidence highlights a bidirectional relationship between neurodegenerative disease and sleep disturbances, whereby initial pathology disrupts sleep/wake regulation which subsequently exacerbates pathology, leading to a detrimental cycle that accelerates disease progression and cognitive decline. Hence, targeting sleep is a promising therapeutic option to slow disease progression and functional decline. The exact mechanisms underlying this bidirectional relationship, however, are incompletely understood, especially with respect to the processes that initiate..