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Updated: Sep 8, 2025
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Eye-Tracking Control to Assess Cognitive Functions in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Published on: October 13, 2016
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Sleep alterations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
1Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Ulm.
Current Opinion in Neurology
|August 20, 2025
Summary
Sleep disturbances in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are early indicators of disease, not just consequences of motor decline. Addressing sleep issues may offer new therapeutic targets for ALS.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Medicine
- Neurology
Background:
- Sleep disturbances are increasingly recognized as integral to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathophysiology.
- These alterations may precede overt motor symptoms, suggesting a role in early disease processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent evidence on sleep disturbances in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
- To emphasize the role of sleep alterations as intrinsic features of ALS, not solely consequences of motor decline.
Main Methods:
- Review of emerging data on sleep disturbances in ALS.
- Analysis of polysomnographic studies and cohort data.
- Examination of structural and functional hypothalamic changes.
Main Results:
- Sleep disturbances like fragmentation and circadian changes often precede motor symptoms in ALS.
- Hypothalamic changes are implicated in sleep-wake dysregulation.
- Impaired glymphatic clearance during sleep may exacerbate neurodegeneration.
- Prodromal sleep abnormalities are found in symptomatic patients and gene carriers.
Conclusions:
- Sleep alterations in ALS are early indicators and potential modulators of disease progression.
- The hypothalamus and glymphatic system are key contributors to these sleep disturbances.
- Sleep represents a potential therapeutic target for earlier diagnosis and disease modification in ALS.
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