Genetic approaches for target identification in sleep/wake systems

Attempts to therapeutically induce sufficient amounts of sleep have occurred since the advent of the medical arts, but the health implications of failing to maintain a correct balance of sleep/wake has only recently become widely appreciated both in the medical arena and among the general public. Inappropriate amounts of sleep have been linked to cognitive impairment, immune suppression and metabolic changes, as well as to the sequelae of reduced vigilance and increased likelihood of involvement in automobile accidents or other causes of fatalities. Currently approved treatments for insomnia and excessive sleepiness have suboptimal risk:benefit ratios; thus, opportunities exist for improved therapeutic approaches in the treatment of sleep/wake disorders through novel target identification. Until recently, the ability to link genes to sleep/wake behaviors has been limited to overt observations of sedation, stimulation, and narcoleptic or sleep 'attacks'. Recent research has been focused on approaches that combine measures of refined phenotypic electroencephalographic changes with chromosomal loci, in an attempt to identify novel targets that alter sleep/wake behaviors.