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After these initial cases, we found a few cases that were genetic because they transmitted through the family. These dogs had the hallmarks of narcolepsy and a related disorder called cataplexy - they had REM abnormalities and immediately fell asleep once excited or aroused. Dement advertised in the newspaper and found a French poodle named "Monique" that had narcolepsy. At one of his talks in the 1970s, someone in the audience mentioned that he may have a dog with narcolepsy. My mentor - William Dement, MD, PhD, who just retired at 88 years old - was working with dogs when I came to Stanford. What informed your choice to study narcolepsy in dogs? Our work with narcoleptic dogs, along with Nora Volkow’s elegant human work, demonstrated that Modafinil acts as a dopamine re-uptake inhibitor, which was controversial at the time.ĭogs are far from a common model organism. I began studying narcolepsy by investigating how the drugs used to treat narcoleptic patients work, namely amphetamines and Modafinil. REM sleep normally occurs 90 minutes into sleep and reoccurs every 90 minutes, but the timing is dysregulated in narcoleptics. This phase of sleep is associated with vivid dreaming, brain activity similar to waking states, and muscle paralysis. Narcolepsy was the perfect starting point because it has a clear, objective phenotype: patients fall into REM (“Rapid Eye Movement”) sleep faster than controls. I began by searching for a clinical disorder that could inform us about sleep. I even force myself to go to scientific conferences outside of my field, such as cancer conferences. I am always ready to try new techniques to answer my questions this keeps me flexible. Broadly speaking, I study why we sleep and what happens in the brain while we sleep.
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The distinction between disciplines isn’t important-the question is what is important. The scientific community often wants to put you in the box of neuroscientist, immunologist, etc. Your lab has used a variety of approaches over the years how would you describe your scientific discipline? He's known for his work in narcolepsy - in particular, for his discovery that mutations in hypocretin receptor 2 cause canine narcolepsy - and I recently talked with him about his research and sleep habits. Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD, is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine.