Clinical trial NCT02685891: Brain Maturation and Sleep
Official title: Exploring Diurnal Changes in Markers of Cortical Plasticity Using Multimodal Imaging in Healthy Children, Adolescents and Adults
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy
Lead sponsor: University Children's Hospital, Zurich
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-02-19
Enrollment: 90
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 8
Maximum age (years): 30
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: In this study, the investigator evaluates whether there are age-specific diurnal changes in markers of cortical plasticity in children, adolescents and adults. The question will be investigated by the quantification of brain metabolites and structural brain volumes using magnet resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiological markers using sleep encephalography (sleep EEG). In a second step, it will be tested how these markers of cortical plasticity change depending on a modulation of sleep by applying tones during deep sleep.

Detailed description: Given that children and adolescents undergo entirely different maturational processes (children show an increase, adolescents a decrease in synapse density) larger diurnal changes in children are expected compared to adolescents concerning brain metabolites and structural markers. These cortical changes in synapse density are thought to be reflected in electrophysiological markers in the sleep EEG (children show a higher slow wave activity, adolescents a reduced slow wave activity). With the modulation of the deep (slow wave) sleep by playing short, low volume tones, the investigators want to test if there is a causal relationship between slow wave sleep and markers of cortical plasticity.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Male and female subjects 8 to 30 years of age,
* good general health Status
* right-handedness,
* Written informed consent after participants' information

Exclusion Criteria:

* sleep disorders (insomnia, sleep disordered breathing, restless legs syndrome)
* sleep complaints in general
* irregular sleep-wake rhythm
* daytime sleep
* travelling across a time zone within the last month
* diseases or lesions of the central nervous system
* psychiatric diseases
* learning disability
* skin allergy or very sensitive skin
* acute pediatric disease
* pregnancy
* drug and medication use and abuse
* nicotine use
* high caffeine consumption (\>2 servings/day (\>160 mg caffeine); including coffee, tea, white and dark chocolate, coca cola, energy drink)
* Alcohol consumption in children and adolescents under 16 years
* high alcohol consumption in adults (\> 1 standard serving/day (\>14 mg Alcohol))
* high alcohol consumption in adolescents aged 16 years and above (\> 3-4 Standard servings per week)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Diurnal changes in brain metabolites
timeFrame: 3 years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: electrophysiological markers change in dependance of the diurnal variation of brain metabolites
timeFrame: 3 years
measure: structural markers change in dependance of the diurnal variation of brain metabolites
timeFrame: 3 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Zurich
country: Switzerland
facility: University Children's Hospital Zurich
Study officials:
References: