Current and future therapeutic approaches in narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder of rapid onset eye movement (REM) sleep, affecting the sleep-wake cycle in the brain. It is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, uncontrollable sleep attacks, and sleep fragmentation and is often associated with cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations. In this week’s podcast, Claudio Bassetti, MD, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland; Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD, Stanford University Center for Sleep Sciences, Palo Alto, CA; and Kiran Maski, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, discuss current understanding of narcolepsy and the potential for future treatment interventions.