Modulation von Tiefschlafwellen als Therapieansatz bei Depression (SMART Studie)

The SMART study (Sleep Modulation as Antidepressant Randomized Trial) explores sleep as a largely underutilized therapeutic window for treating Major Depressive Disorder at patients’ homes. While most treatments focus on interventions during wakefulness, we investigate whether modulating the sleeping brain can provide a novel, non-pharmacological path to alleviation.

Using targeted auditory stimulation (down-phase targeted auditory stimulation), we delivered brief bursts of pink noise to suppress slow-wave activity during deep sleep. This may replicate the rapid antidepressant effects of sleep deprivation while sparing patients its typical negative impact. The intervention was tested in 30 depressed patients and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy participants in a five-week crossover protocol including one auditory stimulation and one sham week.

With data collection complete, we are now analyzing this deeply phenotyped, multimodal dataset that includes:

• Depression Severity: Observer- and self-rated depressive symptomatology.
• Electrophysiology: Single-channel longitudinal home sleep EEG and high-density laboratory EEG.
• Neuroimaging: Structural MRI, resting-state functional MRI, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
• Neurocognitive Markers: Assessment of declarative memory consolidation, vigilance, and emotional processing.
• Biochemical and Physiological Profiling: Blood samples, continuous heart (ECG) and physical activity monitoring, and ecological momentary assessments of mood and sleepiness.

Our goal is to integrate these diverse data streams to understand how targeted sleep modulation impacts the neurobiological and clinical signatures of depression. Students interested in analyzing a subset of this data for a thesis or research project are encouraged to reach out to Prof. Reto Huber

Group Leader: Prof. Dr. Reto Huber
Project Leader: Dr. Giulia Da Poian
Investigators: Prof. Dr. Erich Seifritz, Dr. Dr. Corinne Eicher

Institutions:
Child Development Center
University Children's Hospital Zurich
University of Zurich
Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Department of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
ETH Zurich, Sensory-Motor Systems Lab

• SNF-Ambizione Grant (PZ00P2_193291)
• SAMW/SNF-MD-PhD Grant (323530_207034)