---
title: Boost sleep recovery with tones
nct_id: NCT05402488
phase: NA
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: University of Zurich
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05402488"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05402488"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:06:39.016Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Boost sleep recovery with tones

**Goal (in five words):** Boost sleep recovery with tones

**Official Title:** Exploring the Recovery Function of Sleep in Neurodegeneration - an Observational Cross-Sectional Study

**Trial ID:** [NCT05402488](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05402488)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** NA
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** University of Zurich
- **Target Enrollment:** 200 participants
- **Start Date:** 2022-03-14
- **Completion Date:** 2025-12
- **Conditions:** Neurodegenerative Diseases
- **Interventions:** Auditory stimulation
- **Intervention Types:** BEHAVIORAL

## Summary For Families

The goal is to see whether deep, slow-wave sleep helps the brain recover from neurodegenerative diseases that involve abnormal protein build-up, and whether boosting that sleep can support protein clearance and memory. Participants wear a home EEG while gentle, timed auditory tones are played during sleep to amplify slow-wave activity, a noninvasive approach meant to strengthen sleep-dependent clearance and consolidation processes. Adults 18 and older who are either healthy or have a confirmed neurodegenerative disease with abnormal protein aggregation can join if they can use the ambulant EEG and hear the tones; people on opioids or benzodiazepines, with ear or skin issues that prevent electrode use, or who cannot follow study procedures are excluded.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Good general health or confirmed diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease associated with abnormal protein aggregation along international criteria
* Age above 18 years
* In ambulant setting: ability to apply the ambulant EEG device for the duration of the study, either alone or with help of co-habitant if MoCA \< 20

Exclusion Criteria:

* Failure to give informed consent
* Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems or cognitive deficits
* Known or suspected non-compliance, drug- or medication abuse
* Inability to hear the tones to be applied during sleep in auditory stimulation experiments
* Skin disorders/problems/allergies in face/ear area that could worsen with electrode application
* Regular intake of drugs that may alter the relationship between sleep and outcome variables under investigation (opioids, benzodiazepines and z-drugs (nonbenzodiazepines)).
* Clinically significant concomitant disease states
* Too high (disease) burden for patients
* Additional non-medical exclusion criteria may be defined for certain cognitive tasks (e.g. no glasses during experiments involving eye tracking)
```

## Locations (1)

- University Hospital Zurich, Neurology department, Zurich, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland _(47.3667, 8.5500)_
  - Angelina Maric, PhD — (CONTACT) — +41 44 255 86 15 — angelina.maric@usz.ch

## Central Contacts

- Angelina Maric, Dr. phil. — (CONTACT) — +41 44 255 86 15 — angelina.maric@usz.ch

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05402488*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05402488*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05402488*