RBD in the News
Expanded NAPS Study Launches
The North American Prodromal Synucleinopathy (NAPS) Consortium was established in 2018 to study REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD), a sleep disorder which causes individuals to talk, move (sometimes violently) or engage in other dream-enacting behavior while asleep and may serve as an indicator of future neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies or multiple system atrophy.
The expanded NAPS study, recently funded by the National Institutes of Health, will enable clinical trials aimed at preventing or slowing neurodegenerative diseases. Goals include studying additional individuals with RBD, developing biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases and identifying potential drug targets.
The study is led by Dr. Yo-El Ju (Washington University in St. Louis), Dr. Bradley Boeve (Mayo Clinic), and Dr. Ronald Postuma (McGill University Health Centre Research Institute).
Additional institutions and investigators enrolling participants include: Emory University (Dr. Daniel Huddleston), Massachusetts General Hospital (Dr. Aleksandar Videnovic), Mayo Clinic (Dr. Erik St. Louis), Stanford University (Dr. Emmanuel During), University of California Los Angeles (Dr. Alon Avidan), University of Minnesota (Dr. Michael Howell), and Oregon Health Sciences University/Portland Veterans Affairs (Dr. Miranda Lim).
