Sleep apnoea results in cognitive dysfunction, excessive sleepiness, doubling of workplace accidents and more than 2‑fold increased motor vehicle crash risk presenting a huge health care burden in Australia and internationally. The disorder is also associated with increased risk of stroke, heart disease and possibly dementia. It is a complex disorder with multiple impacts including hypoxia, sleep deprivation, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors.

This project aims to unravel the impact of OSA on the brain and to determine whether deleterious effects can be reversed or slowed by treatment options.

Main collaborators: Andrew Vakulin, Flinders; Ron Grunstein, Woolcock Institute, Angela D’Rozario, Woolcock Institute, Delwyn Bartlett, Woolcock Institute; Lynne Bilston, NeuRA, Michael Green, NeuRA

Miller, C.B., Rae, C.D. Green, M., Yee, B.J., Kyle, S.D., Gordon, C.J., Marshall, N.S., Espie, C.A., Grunstein, R.R. & Bartlett, D.J. (2017) An objective short-sleep insomnia disorder subtype is associated with reduced brain metabolites in vivo: a preliminary magnetic resonance spectroscopy assessment. Sleep 40, zsx148

D’Rosario, A., Bartlet, D., Wong, K.H., Sach, T, Yang, Q., Grunstein, R.R. & Rae, C.D. (2018) Brain bioenergetics during resting wakefulness are related to neurobehavioural deficits in severe obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep 41(8) zsy117.