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Scientific article
English

Neuroimaging of narcolepsy

Contributors

Dang-Vu, T. T.; Desseilles, Martin; Schwartz, Sophie; Maquet, Pierre

Published in

CNS & neurological disorders. Drug targets, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 254-263

Publication date

2009

Abstract

Neuroimaging techniques have refined the characterization of neural structures involved in the regulation of normal sleep-wake cycle in healthy humans. Yet brain imaging studies in patients with sleep disorders still remain scarce. In narcoleptic patients, structural and functional brain imaging studies have suggested the involvement of the hypothalamus in the pathophysiology of narcolepsy, plausibly consistent with an impairment of the hypocretin-orexin system. Some recent studies have further suggested that cataplexy, a key feature of the narcoleptic syndrome, might result from a dysfunction of the hypothalamus and its interactions with limbic structures. Other neuroimaging studies have focused on the assessment of neurotransmission and the effects of pharmacological treatment in narcoleptic patients. However, the neural correlates of some main symptoms of narcolepsy, such as sleep attacks, hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations and sleep paralysis, are still unknown. In addition, the description of brain activity patterns during sleep in narcoleptic patients needs further investigation. Neuroimaging has proven to be a valuable tool for the study of sleep regulation and sleep disorders; its future developments will undoubtedly improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying narcolepsy with cataplexy.

Keywords

  • Benzhydryl Compounds/therapeutic use
  • Brain/drug effects/physiopathology/radionuclide imaging
  • Brain Mapping/methods
  • Central Nervous System Stimulants/therapeutic use
  • Diagnostic Imaging
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Models, Neurological
  • Narcolepsy/drug therapy/physiopathology/radionuclide imaging
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

DANG-VU, T. T. et al. Neuroimaging of narcolepsy. In: CNS & neurological disorders. Drug targets, 2009, vol. 8, n° 4, p. 254–263. doi: 10.2174/187152709788921708

Identifiers

Additional URL for this publication

http://www.benthamdirect.org/pages/content.php?CNSNDDT/2009/00000008/00000004/0004Z.SGM

Journal ISSN

1871-5273
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Technical informations

Creation

06/08/2010 10:47:04

First validation

06/08/2010 10:47:04

Update

13/03/2026 07:42:28

Status update

13/03/2026 07:42:28

Last indexation

13/03/2026 07:45:12
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