斯蒂芬·迪塞尔（Stephane Dissel）博士在他的祖国法国读本科时，由于天生的好奇心、对实验室的热爱和一点运气，他爱上了生物研究。 His interest in the connection between Alzheimer’s disease and sleep came later.
在他的本科学习期间，迪塞尔专注于果蝇的免疫反应。 His current research studies the effect of sleep on flies’ brains and the ability to manipulate the expression of specific genes to affect memory. 迪塞尔说，睡眠可以确保一切都以正确的方式连接起来。
“Every animal on the planet has to sleep.” Dissel说。 “Depriving people of sleep has been used as a method of torture,” he says. “People start by losing their sanity, but eventually they could die. It’s essential. Every species, every animal sleeps.”
迪塞尔说，睡眠对大脑的发育和连接很重要。
“It helps ensure everything works properly. 即使在动物王国，婴儿在生命早期也睡得更多。 But as people age, they tend to sleep less, and their sleep is less efficient.”
“The question is, are these people developing Alzheimer’s because they have sleep problems, or do sleep problems increase with Alzheimer’s?” —
Dissel notes that it’s common for people in their 40s and 50s to start sleeping less and less. 在这段时间里，睡眠变得不那么深，这使得人们更有可能在夜间醒来。 他说，大多数神经退行性疾病都伴有睡眠不足的成分。
“The question is, are these people developing Alzheimer’s because they have sleep problems, or do sleep problems increase with Alzheimer’s?” Dissel说。 “This is still up for debate. But what I know for sure is that if you can improve the quality of sleep, you can delay or diminish the onset of severe Alzheimer’s.”
他说，苍蝇对他的研究至关重要，因为它们的大脑可以进行精确、有针对性的操作。 人类的睡眠方式和苍蝇的睡眠方式显然不同，但也有一些共同点，可以让这项研究适用于人类的情况。
“At the end of the day it’s about healthy memory– or plasticity. 我们试图了解大脑中的哪些神经元是睡眠对可塑性的好处的基础。 如果我们能识别出重要的细胞，我们就能操纵、激活或抑制它们。 “
While there is no “cure” for Alzheimer’s on the horizon, Dissel is heartened that there is a lot of funding available for this research. 他还指出，也有好消息。
“We know from our research that, in a fly that has a genetic mutation that leads to memory impairment, making sleep more efficient enables the brain to find an alternative way to bypass that mutation and restore memory.”
“It’s never quick enough, but little by little we will find a way to prevent the disease.”
他说，诱导睡眠的方式不如睡眠本身重要。
“We can increase the quality of sleep in different ways. 我们可以激活苍蝇大脑中特定的神经元，我们知道这些神经元会诱发睡眠。 We’ve also used drugs for pharmaceutical activation, and it leads to the same conclusion. No matter how you do it, increasing sleep in flies makes memory better.”
He notes that part of the challenge with Alzheimer’s disease is that it is complex and controlled by genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors.
“You can’t pinpoint a single gene that triggers the disease. In some cases, there are multiple gene mutations, which can lead to increased risk. There are so many possible causes that lead to this disease, it’s very difficult to find a treatment strategy that is applicable to everyone.”
Still, he is confident in the progress that is being made, though it’s often in incremental steps.
“It’s never quick enough, but little by little we will find a way to prevent the disease. Even if we cannot cure it now, I’d consider it progress if we can delay onset, lessen the severity or improve the quality of life. I’m much more optimistic about this right now because I know it’s doable.”