Overview

• In rapid fMRI tests, 23 people with narcolepsy type 1 displayed slow vasomotor pulsations comparable to sleeping healthy volunteers but stronger than awake controls.
• Heart- and breathing-linked pulsations were weaker in the narcolepsy group, indicating a distinct shift in the balance of brain rhythm drivers.
• The study, published in PNAS by University of Oulu researchers, directly compared wake and sleep states across narcolepsy and healthy cohorts for the first time.
• The authors hypothesize that orexin deficiency removes a suppressive influence on slow pulsations, citing prior reports of lower amyloid burden in older narcolepsy patients and effects of orexin-blocking drugs on CNS waste markers.
• Researchers call for interventional and larger studies to test orexin-targeting therapies and clarify whether altered pulsations translate into meaningful changes in glymphatic clearance.