David Kemlink, MD, PhD: Actigraphic Recordings in Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder

“I believe that the actigraphy is very suitable for machine learning.”

At the 24^th Congress of the European Sleep Research Society in Basel, Switzerland, NeurologyLive sat down with David Kemlink, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, to discuss actigraphic differences in rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder patients.

Those suffering from rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder are at high risk of developing a neurodegenerative disorder, most frequently from the group of alpha-synucleinopathies like Parkinson disease or multiple system atrophy. Kemlink and colleagues aimed to identify suitable biomarkers for rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, detectable by actigraphic recording.

The findings showed consistently more prominent sleep fragmentation in rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder patients compared to other sleep diagnoses when looking at actigraphic recording from upper extremities.

Kemlink adds that vigorous screening in such subjects with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder would be useful in future clinical trials for prevention and potential vaccinations against alpha-synucleinopathies.