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Session Schedule

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0:00:00
Rationale and scope of recommendations
Michael Chee (Singapore)

0:13:56
Using wearable sleep data from healthy persons
Kelly Baron (United States)

0:27:50
Using sleep trackers in persons with sleep disorders or medical conditions
Cathy Goldstein (United States)

0:49:07
Reading a performance evaluation and selecting an appropriate device
Mathias Baumert (Australia)

1:04:00
Ingesting sleep data into clinical records
Thomas Penzel (Germany)

1:21:35
Question and answer

Summary

Consumer wearable health trackers are now widely used to monitor and improve sleep. However, their growth in popularity has elicited mixed opinions within the professional sleep community regarding their utility and application. In response, an internationally represented task force was convened to develop recommendations for effectively utilizing the data provided by these devices

The symposium will begin by stating the rationale and scope of the recommendations. It will then provide guidance on how selected 'essential / core' sleep measures should be utilized to advance personal and community sleep health while balancing information overload and unwarranted concern about specific metrics. Relatedly, we will advocate for uniform implementation of core standardized measures across manufacturers, distinguishing these from proprietary exploratory measures that may have future applications.

Advice for device usage will include practical tips for interpreting data from healthy individuals, including limitations of current wearable-derived inferences. Guidance will also address how wearable can be used to support individuals at risk of, or who have sleep disorders and other medical conditions.

The session will highlight the importance of selecting devices based on specific use cases, and offer advice on how performance evaluations can inform purchasing decisions. Additionally, it will emphasize the need for ongoing collaboration with manufacturers to enhance the utility of integrating / simplifying multiple measures, such as the design and application of summary measures such as “readiness scores.”

The symposium will also discuss the challenges of integrating heterogeneous data from different manufacturers into clinically usable health records and explore issues related medical device certification for specific features offered by wearables.

By addressing these topics, the panel aims to bridge the gap between consumer technology and clinical utility, maximizing the potential of wearable health trackers to enhance personal and community sleep health.

Session Schedule

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0:00:00
Orexin as a key mechanism: Influence on comorbid and disease-immanent disorders in hypersomnolence
Jari Gool (Netherlands)

0:24:10
Narcolepsy and cardiovascular risk: Links between hypersomnolence and cardiovascular disease
Poul Jørgen Jennum (Denmark)

0:42:02
Mental comorbidities in narcolepsy: Depression, anxiety disorders and the impact of orexin on psychiatric health
Anna Heidbreder (Austria)

1:04:50
Therapeutic approaches in narcolepsy: New perspectives through orexin receptor agonists and their significance for the treatment of comorbidities
Lucie Barateau (France)

1:27:00
Question and answer

Summary

It is often difficult to differentiate whether diseases, symptoms or syndromes occurring alongside narcolepsy are a disease-specific phenomenon from the pathophysiology of the disease itself or an independent disease. This symposium will attempt to differentiate between the two and help to define questions that can be better differentiated pathophysiologically, diagnostically and thus therapeutically in the future.

The following questions will be addressed in this symposium:

1. to what extent are the comorbid symptoms directly caused by the central pathophysiologic cause of hypersomnolence (e.g., orexin deficiency), and to what extent are they independent of it?
This question aims to investigate whether the comorbid symptoms (e.g. depression, obesity, fatigue, restless legs) are primarily caused by the dysregulation of the orexin system or whether they occur independently and need to be treated as independent disorders. A deeper understanding of these interactions could influence therapeutic strategies.
2. how to distinguish clinically between the symptoms of the disorder (e.g. excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep disturbances) and the comorbid disorders (e.g. depression, anxiety disorders)?
This question is important to clarify the clinical distinction between the symptoms of the primary disorder (hypersomnolence) and the possible comorbid disorders. This is because it is often difficult to distinguish between the primary symptoms of hypersomnolence disorders and the associated secondary disorders, which can have an impact on diagnosis and treatment.
3. to what extent do comorbid conditions (e.g. depression, obesity, cardiovascular risk factors) contribute to the long-term course and quality of life of patients with hypersomnolence?
This question could be used to investigate the long-term impact of comorbidities on disease progression and treatment. A better understanding of the role of comorbidities in the course of the disease could lead to better predictions of disease progression and the development of preventive or complementary therapeutic approaches.
4. could the observed comorbidities (e.g. obesity, fatigue) possibly also be secondary symptoms due to the long suffering and stigmatization of the disease, rather than being directly caused by the primary hypersomnolence?
This question refers to the possibility that some comorbidities are not only due to the biological causes of hypersomnolence, but may also be due to the social and psychological stresses associated with the condition (e.g. social isolation, prolonged sleep deprivation, stigmatization). Understanding these psychosocial aspects could enhance the treatment approach.
Conclusion:
Distinguishing between causative and secondary factors in hypersomnolence disorders is crucial for correct diagnosis and treatment. By closely examining the interactions between the central mechanisms of the disorder and the comorbid disorders, new therapeutic approaches could be developed and the quality of life of affected patients could be significantly improved.

Session Schedule

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0:00:00
The orexin system: Foundation of NT1 pathophysiology and therapeutic avenues
Emmanuel Mignot (United States)

0:16:15
Narcolepsy across the lifespan: Pediatric and adult perspectives
Kiran Maski (United States)

0:32:00
Clinical heterogeneity in narcolepsy: Implications for diagnosis and management
Claudio Bassetti (Switzerland)

0:47:30
Genetics and autoimmunity in narcolepsy: Insights from Asian cohorts
Makoto Honda (Japan)

0:59:15
Innovations in narcolepsy treatment: From evidence to implementation
Yves Dauvilliers (France)

1:19:20
Question and answer

Session Schedule

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0:00:00
Introduction

0:00:34
WHO global report on road safety: Current professional driver work hours legislation and future targets
Fangfang Luo (China)

0:18:15
Continuous drowsiness monitoring to assess work hours impact on professional driver drowsiness: A naturalistic study
Mark Howard (Australia)

0:32:00
Applying guidelines for work shift and break duration to professional driver work hours regulations
Hans Van Dongen (United States)

0:49:20
Panel discussion/presentation: Pathway to global professional driver work hours regulations: Regulations and challenges in Nigeria
Morenikeji Komolafe (Nigeria)

0:55:45
Panel discussion/presentation: Pathway to global professional driver work hours regulations: Regulations and challenges in China
Fang Han (China)

Summary

1.2 million annual fatalities globally make road traffic injuries the leading cause of death in 5-29-year-olds and the 12th most common cause in all ages. The risk is three times higher in low-income countries. Driver drowsiness accounts for 20% of all road crashes, but 30-50% of professional driver crashes. This symposium will present findings from The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Road Safety 2023, novel continuous driver drowsiness monitoring data evaluating driver work hours impacts, and provide a global perspective on current driver work hours legislation and the path to meet WHO targets. The WHO report assessed professional driver work hour legislation and found that 83 of 172 member countries had legislation related to rest periods but only 30 countries specified maximum driving hours and 25 minimum rest break duration. The WHO has set a target for all countries to enact driver work hour legislation and is engaged with the World Sleep Society, Sleep, and Traffic Safety Task Force to inform the target guidelines.
Driver work hours schedules directly influence driver sleep duration and quality, circadian impacts on drowsiness, driving impairment, and crash risk. Driver drowsiness monitoring based on eye-blink characteristics is being increasingly used by professional drivers. This study monitored drivers during 197 shifts using continuous drowsiness monitoring while driving and recorded driver work hours, breaks, and sleep duration. The odds of a driver drowsiness event were increased by 14 times after 16 hours of driving and 17 times if prior sleep was under six hours. Short break durations under seven hours, five or more consecutive shifts, and night and rotating shifts also increased drowsiness events. These schedule features interacted. This study demonstrates the unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of driver work hours using continuous driver drowsiness monitoring to ensure safe driver work hours.
The WHO Global Report on Road Safety highlights differences in professional driver work hours legislation across the globe. Driver work hour legislation may also vary within countries between different professional driver groups, such as heavy vehicle drivers, bus drivers, and commercial passenger carriers such as taxis and Uber drivers where work hours may be poorly defined. Regulators balance scientific input on safe work hours for drivers with industry operational requirements and financial impacts. Sleep scientists and clinicians need to engage with regulators to inform regional guidelines. The symposium's international panel of sleep scientists and regulators will present global data on current professional driver regulations and regional challenges in developing and enforcing legislation. Multi-national guidelines on the principles for shift work design to optimize health and safety will be presented. The international panel will consider key recommendations for professional drivers globally, including maximum work hours and minimum break durations (in addition to listed authors, Professor Walter McNicholas (Ireland) and Dr Arezu Najafi (Iran, World Sleep Research Trainee Class of 2021) will contribute to the panel discussion). This symposium will underpin the collaboration between the World Sleep Society, Sleep and Traffic Safety Task Force, and WHO to inform global professional driver work hours targets.

Session Schedule

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0:00:00
Introduction

0:03:35
Clinical biomarkers in iRBD: Foundations for precision and integration
Luca Baldelli (Italy)

0:20:22
Molecular and metabolic imaging biomarkers: What’s missing?
Beatrice Orso (Italy)

0:34:28
Electrophysiology and digital biomarkers: Automated monitoring of progression and phenoconversion in iRBD
Matteo Cesari (Austria)

 0:49:54
Recent developments in diagnostic, prognostic, and disease-monitoring wet biomarkers in iRBD
Bei Huang (Hong Kong)

1:07:10
The ideal biomarker(s): From big data to personalized medicine
Bradley Boeve (United States)

1:17:00
Question and answer

Summary

Isolated REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (iRBD) usually represents an early clinical manifestation of alpha-synucleinopathies. Notably, over 80% of individuals with iRBD phenoconvert during long-term follow-up, making iRBD a critical prodromal stage for synucleinopathies.
Recent research has highlighted the need to shift from a syndromic to a biological framework for defining alpha-synucleinopathies. However, despite growing emphasis on diagnostic biomarkers in these diseases, current studies often fall short in providing actionable tools for practicing clinicians.
While diagnostic biomarkers are vital for identifying alpha-synucleinopathy at its prodromal stage, there is an urgent need to develop robust prognostic biomarkers. These tools would enable the prediction of clinical trajectories in iRBD patients, including disease progression, type and rate of phenoconversion, and ultimate severity. This is critical for identifying patients at the highest short-term risk of phenoconversion, who may serve as the ideal candidates for future disease-modifying therapies.
The success of disease-modifying clinical trials depends on the identification and validation of reliable biomarkers that reflect the ongoing neurodegenerative process. Ultimately, these biomarkers could enable precise patient stratification for enrollment in trials, enhancing their design and outcomes.
With this in mind, Luca Baldelli will focus on clinical biomarkers, exploring their current utility, accessibility, and limitations in precision. He will discuss whether these well-established biomarkers can serve as a reliable foundation for integrating other modalities, ultimately improving diagnostic and prognostic accuracy.
Beatrice Orso will discuss the importance of neuroimaging biomarkers, focusing on what is currently being endorsed by the new research criteria, highlighting the need to address the lack of thresholds for abnormality in molecular and metabolic imaging techniques, as well as the need for studies targeting the predictive value of cutoffs used to define abnormality.
Matteo Cesari will cover electrophysiological and digital biomarkers, emphasizing their role in detecting subtle physiological changes and their potential for non-invasive monitoring. He will highlight recent advancements in digital health technologies and their application to tracking disease progression and conversion. The role of artificial intelligence will also be discussed.
Bei Huang will review the history and major breakthroughs in wet biomarkers, the prospects and limitations of their clinical applications, and the need to establish an international RBD biomedical database. She will also elaborate on the potential of gut-based markers in diagnosis and prediction of disease progression.
Bradley F. Boeve will open a discussion on the ideal single or set of biomarkers, envisioning a future where big data and personalized medicine converge. He will delve into how biomarker-driven strategies can revolutionize clinical trials and therapeutic approaches, ultimately paving the way for more effective disease-modifying treatments.
By focusing on iRBD as a window into the early stages of neurodegeneration, this symposium aims to illuminate the critical gaps in research and identify pathways toward a biomarker-driven future in alpha-synucleinopathy management.

Session Schedule

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0:00:00
Introduction

0:02:05
Open science in sleep research in Europe: Legal limits, new opportunities and recent progress
Dagmar Krefting (Germany)

0:25:50
Benefits and challenges of open science: A neuro-AI perspective
Thomas Yeo (Singapore)

0:47:25
The National Sleep Resource enables phenotype research and personalized medicine
Shaun Purcell (United States)

1:18:08
Interoperability, integration and harmonization of data from multiple sources for sleep medicine
Christoph Schoebel (Germany)
Cynthia Schmidt (Germany)

Summary

Sleep medicine has generated extensive multimodal datasets from both clinical patients and research subjects. Historically, these data have been primarily analyzed to extract summary metrics, such as sleep staging, respiratory events, other physiological events. However, the richness and potential of these datasets remain underutilized. By integrating these datasets with electronic health records, we can greatly enhance the scope and impact of sleep research.
 
This symposium presents various open-access data resources, including multi-center studies and publicly available datasets, that support secondary analyses and cross-disciplinary research. In addition to data sharing, open science now includes algorithms and computational tools, hosted on platforms such as Github. In countries where data sharing is restricted, coordinated, collaborative federated learning offer promising alternatives for secure and decentralized analyses. The combination of open data and open science will accelerate innovation, foster reproducibility/validation, and advance collaboration in sleep medicine and sleep research.

This symposium was presented in person at World Sleep 2025 in Singapore.

To access the session recording, navigate to the content tab and click the view video button. 

Session Schedule

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0:00:00
Introduction

0:02:55
Sleep disordered breathing
Robert Thomas (United States)

0:24:30
Insomnia and parasomnia
Eunyeon Joo (Korea, Republic of)

0:36:58
Movement disorders
Garima Shukla (Canada)

0:55:18
Sleep and neurological disorders
Luigi Ferini-Strambi (Italy)

1:21:21
Pediatric sleep medicine
Oliviero Bruni (Italy)

Question and answer

Summary

The editorial team of Sleep Medicine, the official journal of the World Sleep Society and the International Pediatric Sleep Association, would like to give you an insight into the publications of 2025. Field Editors will present publications that are among their personal highlights from the areas of basic sleep science, pediatrics, insomnia, and neurology. Scientific work in sleep medicine is evolving extraordinary. As sleep physiology and pathology cut across nearly every component of medicine, there is a scattering of the literature such that sleep research finds a home in everything from purely basic science to clinical, and general to specialist publications. This symposium will highlight key and clinically impactful publications from the past year which appeared in Sleep Medicine, which aims to be a journal targeting what directly matters to the patient.