Approaches to unravel the genetics of sleep - 20/08/11

Doi : 10.1016/j.smrv.2010.01.001

Mikhil N. Bamne ^a,^{^{d
Tel.: +1 412 246 6354; fax: +1 412 246 6350.}} , Hader Mansour ^a,^{^{e
Tel.: +1 412 246 6348; fax: +1 412 246 6350.}} , Timothy H. Monk ^b,^{^{f
Tel.: +1 412 246 6401; fax: +1 412 246 5300.}} , Daniel J. Buysse ^b,^{^{g
Tel.: +1 412 246 6413; fax: +1 412 246 5300.}} , Vishwajit L. Nimgaonkar ^a,^c,^⁎
^a Department of Psychiatry, 441 Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara St., University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
^b Sleep and Chronobiology Center, Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara St., University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
^c Department of Human Genetics, 441 Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara St., University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 412 246 6353; fax: +1 412 246 6350.

Summary

Sleep and circadian rhythms are complex and inter-connected physiological processes. Relative to the remarkable progress made in identifying the genetic basis of circadian rhythms and some specific sleep disorders, efforts to identify genetic variants associated with normal variation in sleep have progressed more slowly. Two key issues concerning the design of such studies must be addressed in order to facilitate further progress. The first concerns the sleep related traits to be targeted. The second issue is the choice of the gene-mapping method (linkage, candidate gene association or genome-wide association). This paper discusses these issues, reviews published studies of sleep phenotypes, and recommends cost-effective methods to advance knowledge of the genetic determinants of normal sleep patterns.

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Keywords : Sleep, Polymorphisms, Circadian, Gene mapping, Genome-wide association studies