Roger Godbout

Bio: Roger Godbout is an academic researcher from Université de Montréal. The author has contributed to research in topics: Polysomnography & Non-rapid eye movement sleep. The author has an hindex of 34, co-authored 121 publications receiving 3482 citations.

Atypical sleep architecture and the autism phenotype.

Abstract: A growing body of evidence indicates that people with autism frequently experience sleep disorders and exhibit atypical sleep architecture. In order to establish whether sleep disorders truly belong to the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) phenotype, we conducted a subjective and objective study of sleep in a group of high-functioning adults with ASD but without sleep complaints, psychiatric disorders or neurological comorbidity. We compared the subjective data of 27 ASD participants with those of 78 healthy controls matched for chronological age and gender. Subjective measures of sleep in the clinical group were compatible with insomnia and/or a tolerable phase advance of the sleep-wake cycle. Subjective data were confirmed by objective laboratory sleep recordings in a subset of 16 patients and 16 controls. Persons with autism presented with a longer sleep latency (P < 0.04), more frequent nocturnal awakenings (P < 0.03), lower sleep efficiency (P < 0.03), increased duration of stage 1 sleep (P < 0.02), decreased non-REM sleep (stages 2 + 3 + 4, P < 0.04) and slow-wave sleep (stages 3 + 4, P < 0.05), fewer stage 2 EEG sleep spindles (P < 0.004), and a lower number of rapid eye movements during REM sleep (P < 0.006) than did control participants. On clinical scales, the scores of persons with ASD on the Beck Depression Inventory were similar to those of persons without, but their trait anxiety scores on the Spielberger Anxiety Scale were higher (P < 0.02). The state anxiety scores of the Spielberger scale and cortisol levels were the same in the two groups. Objective total sleep time correlated negatively with the Social (-0.52, P < 0.05) and Communication (-0.54, P < 0.02) scales of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. The sleep of clinical subgroups (10 with high-functioning autism, six with Asperger syndrome) did not differ, except for the presence of fewer EEG sleep spindles in the Asperger syndrome subgroup (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these findings indicate that atypicalities of sleep constitute a salient feature of the adult ASD phenotype and this should be further investigated in younger patients. Moreover, the results are consistent with an atypical organization of neural networks subserving the macro- and microstructure of sleep in ASD. We are furthering this research with quantified analysis of sleep EEG.

Sleep in Untreated Patients With Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract: The present meta-analysis investigated the characteristics of sleep in patients with schizophrenia without neuroleptic treatment at the time of sleep recording. The 20 selected studies included 652 participants (321 patients with schizophrenia and 331 healthy subjects). Effect sizes were evaluated using d values for the following sleep variables: sleep latency (SL), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency index (SEI), total awake time (TAT), stage 2 percentage (S2%), stage 4 percentage, slow-wave-sleep percentage, rapid-eye-movement (REM) percentage, and REM latency. The initial meta-analysis revealed that patients with schizophrenia have the following sleep disorders: increased SL, decreased TST, and decreased SEI. A moderator analysis revealed that these sleep disorders were worse for the neuroleptic-withdrawal group relative to the never-treated group. However, only never-treated patients showed significantly increased TAT and diminished S2%. These results confirm that patients with schizophrenia have sleep disorders that are not necessarily a consequence of neuroleptic treatments, suggesting that sleep disorders are an intrinsic feature of schizophrenia. However, it must be noted that some sleep disorders may be amplified by residual effects of neuroleptic withdrawal, while others appear to be dampened by neuroleptic treatment.

Combination of Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175 reduces post-myocardial infarction depression symptoms and restores intestinal permeability in a rat model.

Abstract: Myocardial infarction (MI) in rats is accompanied by apoptosis in the limbic system and a behavioural syndrome similar to models of depression. We have already shown that probiotics can reduce post-MI apoptosis and designed the present study to determine if probiotics can also prevent post-MI depressive behaviour. We also tested the hypothesis that probiotics achieve their central effects through changes in the intestinal barrier. MI was induced in anaesthetised rats via 40-min transient occlusion of the left anterior coronary artery. Sham rats underwent the same surgical procedure without actual coronary occlusion. For 7 d before MI and between the seventh post-MI day and euthanasia, half the MI and sham rats were given one billion live bacterial cells of Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175 per d dissolved in water, while the remaining animals received only the vehicle (maltodextrin). Depressive behaviour was evaluated 2 weeks post-MI in social interaction, forced swimming and passive avoidance step-down tests. Intestinal permeability was evaluated by oral administration with fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran, 4 h before euthanasia. MI rats displayed less social interaction and impaired performance in the forced swimming and passive avoidance step-down tests compared to the sham controls (P < 0·05). Probiotics reversed the behavioural effects of MI (P < 0·05), but did not alter the behaviour of sham rats. Intestinal permeability was increased in MI rats and reversed by probiotics. In conclusion, L. helveticus R0052 and B. longum R0175 combination interferes with the development of post-MI depressive behaviour and restores intestinal barrier integrity in MI rats.

Sleep and circadian rhythm in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: This commentary highlights the critical role of sleep as a public health issue, particularly during a stressful life period such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and provides evidence-based practical guidelines to manage sleep disturbances during this crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic and the imposed social confinement have produced significant stress, anxiety, and worries about health and the fear of being infected, jobs and financial problems, and uncertainty about the future. The incidence of sleep disturbances has also increased dramatically during this period. Aside from stress and anxiety, two other factors are likely to contribute to increased sleep disturbances during this crisis. First, alterations of our daily routines such as arising at a specific time, showing up at work, eating, exercising, and engaging in social and leisure activities at relatively fixed times are all important timekeepers for our sleep-wake cycles to remain synchronized with the day (light) and night (dark) cycles. Alterations of these timekeepers, combined with reduced daylight exposure, also essential to keep our biological clock synchronized, are likely to disrupt sleep and circadian rhythms. Sleep plays a fundamental role for mental and physical health, and adequate sleep duration and quality are essential for coping with major life events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health education is warranted to keep the population well informed about the importance of sleep and healthy sleep practices in order to cope with the pandemic and prevent or minimize long-term adverse outcomes.

Mind-altering microorganisms: the impact of the gut microbiota on brain and behaviour

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed the rise of the gut microbiota as a major topic of research interest in biology. Studies are revealing how variations and changes in the composition of the gut microbiota influence normal physiology and contribute to diseases ranging from inflammation to obesity. Accumulating data now indicate that the gut microbiota also communicates with the CNS — possibly through neural, endocrine and immune pathways — and thereby influences brain function and behaviour. Studies in germ-free animals and in animals exposed to pathogenic bacterial infections, probiotic bacteria or antibiotic drugs suggest a role for the gut microbiota in the regulation of anxiety, mood, cognition and pain. Thus, the emerging concept of a microbiota-gut-brain axis suggests that modulation of the gut microbiota may be a tractable strategy for developing novel therapeutics for complex CNS disorders.

About sleep's role in memory

Abstract: Over more than a century of research has established the fact that sleep benefits the retention of memory. In this review we aim to comprehensively cover the field of "sleep and memory" research by providing a historical perspective on concepts and a discussion of more recent key findings. Whereas initial theories posed a passive role for sleep enhancing memories by protecting them from interfering stimuli, current theories highlight an active role for sleep in which memories undergo a process of system consolidation during sleep. Whereas older research concentrated on the role of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, recent work has revealed the importance of slow-wave sleep (SWS) for memory consolidation and also enlightened some of the underlying electrophysiological, neurochemical, and genetic mechanisms, as well as developmental aspects in these processes. Specifically, newer findings characterize sleep as a brain state optimizing memory consolidation, in opposition to the waking brain being optimized for encoding of memories. Consolidation originates from reactivation of recently encoded neuronal memory representations, which occur during SWS and transform respective representations for integration into long-term memory. Ensuing REM sleep may stabilize transformed memories. While elaborated with respect to hippocampus-dependent memories, the concept of an active redistribution of memory representations from networks serving as temporary store into long-term stores might hold also for non-hippocampus-dependent memory, and even for nonneuronal, i.e., immunological memories, giving rise to the idea that the offline consolidation of memory during sleep represents a principle of long-term memory formation established in quite different physiological systems.

The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis

Abstract: The importance of the gut-brain axis in maintaining homeostasis has long been appreciated. However, the past 15 yr have seen the emergence of the microbiota (the trillions of microorganisms within ...