The aim

Research at the BENESCO combines basic and applied research with animals and humans. The aim is to apply and integrate research findings into the clinical routine to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with sleep-wake disorders (e.g., insomnia or sleep disordered breathing) epilepsy and disorders of consciousness (e.g., coma vigile).

Important research questions under investigation

• What is the role of sleep for the rehabilitation following stroke?
• How do sleep related disorders affect the short- and long-term outcome following stroke?
• What are the biological causes of the restless legs syndrome (RLS)?
• Can we learn within sleep?
• What sleep parameters influence the consolidation of information learned before sleep?
• What is the precise neuro-pathophysiology of human epileptic seizures and how can epileptic seizures be assessed by quantitative EEG analysis?
• What is the common basis of depression, temporal lobe epilepsy and sleep duration?
• What kind of information can human beings process during reduced vigilance and somnolence up to locked in states and coma? How can information processing during these states of reduced consciousness be assessed and operationalized?
• What are the functional wiring and dynamics of sleep-wake circuits?
• How is the circadian clock system related to mood disorders?