Myelin Damage Triggers Abnormal Brain Rhythms During Sleep

Research presented Friday at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Forum 2026 showed that damage to the myelin sheath triggers abnormal electrical spikes and slows rhythmic oscillations exclusively during sleep, Dr. Mohit Dubey said. Dubey, a ZonMw Memorable Dementia Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, said EEG recordings in mice with damaged myelin and Alzheimer's disease revealed spikes similar to those seen in epilepsy or Alzheimer's patients that occurred only during sleep. The spikes were tightly linked to sleep spindles in Stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep. Demyelination also caused a profound slowing of electrical rhythms observed only during rapid eye movement sleep, which is associated with dreaming and memory replay. Dubey said the findings suggest overnight sleep recordings could serve as a non-invasive biomarker to detect early changes in brain circuit myelination before clinical symptoms appear. The research combined data from mouse models and sleeping multiple sclerosis patients. Dubey said understanding the link between myelin damage and sleep disturbances could guide future strategies for improving brain health. No treatments currently exist to repair damaged myelin. The work is mainly in mice and further studies are needed to translate mechanisms to human disease.