Traumatic Brain Injury and Sleep in Alzheimer’s Disease

We are working on a collaborative project to evaluate how traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects sleep in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. 

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), including concussion, affects ~250,000 Canadians every year. TBI is classified into broad categories of mild, moderate and severe injuries. Although moderate-severe TBI is known to increase the risk of dementia, whether mild TBI may also be a risk factor is not well understood. This project uses the CHIMERA (Closed Head Impact Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration) model of TBI to study how TBI, either mild or moderate-sever, affects disease in several types of mice. We will study how CHIMERA TBI affects key processes for Alzheimer’s disease including tau neurofibrillary tangle formation, amyloid, sleep and inflammation. We will also test a number of drugs to determine if they can prevent trauma induced brain changes that are involved in Alzheimer’s Disease if given right after TBI.