Using Cognition to Understand Effects of Medicines Used to Optimize Sleep or Wakefulness

Disruption to normal sleep/wake cycles results in substantial disability and loss of productivity. Sleep/wake cycle dysfunction can also increase morbidity and mortality and therefore remains an urgent target for the development of medicines that can ameliorate such dysfunction.

In the field of sleep medicine, the meaning of changes in cognition can be communicated using various terms such as fatigue, drowsiness, sleepiness, sedation, diminished alertness and diminished attention. Such variability reduces the ability of clinical teams to make decisions about the nature and magnitude of cognitive impairment in disorders of the sleep/wake cycle, the effects of sedative and alerting drugs in experimental medicine models and the best approach to utilize cognitive information in late-phase clinical trials.

In this webinar, Prof. Paul Maruff will utilize cognitive test data obtained from many clinical trials and provide a framework for understanding the nature and magnitude of cognitive impairment that can occur in sleep medicine drug development. Data are obtained from trials of patients with disrupted sleep/wake cycles, healthy adults who have received medicines with sedative effects and healthy adults who have undergone long periods of sleep restriction. This framework will help research teams make informed decisions about the safety and efficacy of novel and licensed drugs in drug development programs.

Register for this webinar today to discover how data on cognition can provide insights into the cognitive impairment that may arise in sleep medicine drug development.

Speaker

Paul Maruff, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Cogstate

Professor Paul Maruff is one of the founders of Cogstate and served as Chief Science Officer before taking on the role of Chief Innovation Officer. He is a neuropsychologist with expertise in the identification and measurement of subtle behavioral and cognitive dysfunction. Paul’s research integrates conventional and computerized neuropsychological testing with cognitive neuroscientific methods to guide decision-making in drug development and in clinical medicine. Paul remains an active researcher. He is the appointed Professor at the Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health and the current clinical Co-Chair of the Australian Imaging Biomakers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study. Paul has published over 450 research articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and has co-authored 15 book chapters.

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