Sleep in Parkinson

Why do we sleep? Recent studies suggest that sleep, particularly deep sleep, characterized by “slow wave activity” (SWA) is essential to learning new information or skills, including motor skills, in a process called “consolidation.” Patients with Parkinson often have sleep problems, and may have a specific alteration of slow wave activity in sleep that may play an important role in the diminished ability to learn and retain motor skills. In collaboration with the City University of New York and Columbia University, we are studying the effect of slow-wave activity in sleep with Parkinson and non-Parkinson control groups.