Dr Laura Laslett’s research aims to investigate sleep in people living with MS. She will do this by collecting better information on sleep, understanding what treatments have already been tested for sleep, how sleep changes over time, and whether magnetic brain stimulation improves sleep, all in people living with MS.
To do this, she will use research grade fitness tracking watches to assess sleep continuously for 14 days, an app (MySymptoms) to report MS symptoms (including sleep) each day and will investigate whether this information adds value to information gathered using standard questionnaires on sleep.
Dr Laslett will review and summarise clinical trials already completed on sleep in people living with MS, to find out what treatments have been tested and to identify the most promising treatments for poor sleep.
To assess changes in sleep in Australians living with MS, Dr Laslett will assess how various aspects of sleep change over time, including changes in sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and symptoms of restless legs syndrome over four years, using data from the Australian MS Longitudinal Study (AMSLS). She will also assess which factors are associated with any change in sleep quality over four years.
To investigate whether magnetic brain stimulation improves sleep, Dr Laslett will use data from the MagneTic brAin stimUlation foR mUltiple Sclerosis (TAURUS.2) trial, which is a clinical trial of magnetic brain stimulation in people living with MS. She will assess whether there is a relationship between the number and size of lesions seen on MRI scans and quality of sleep. She will also determine whether magnetic brain stimulation (daily for four weeks) is effective in improving sleep quality over four months.
Using this information, Dr Laslett will plan future clinical trials of treatments for poor sleep in people living with MS.
Dr Laslett and her team reviewed research studies that assessed sleep over time in people living with MS, including those that assessed sleep using activity monitors. They found 10 studies assessed sleep using activity monitors over time, most of which were randomised controlled trials. These trials used behavioural interventions (physical activity, mindfulness, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)), medications (eszopiclone and melatonin), and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The studies usually measured sleep using activity monitors for only seven days and typically measured factors that could be assessed by questionnaire, such as total time spent asleep. Few studies used the range of data that activity monitors can capture and few measured sleep factors that questionnaires are unable to assess accurately, such as the number of awakenings overnight. There is no clear picture yet whether activity monitors capture better outcomes for assessing the effectiveness of interventions than questionnaires.
From reviewing the literature for the “Modifiable lifestyle factors for MS” report (2025 update), Dr Laslett and her team learned that CBT, physical activity and multidisciplinary interventions (combining CBT, physical activity and sleep hygiene) are effective, evidence-based modifiable lifestyle therapies for some sleep difficulties in plwMS. These findings could greatly improve sleep and quality of life in plwMS by providing evidence-based guidance to plwMS and their clinicians.
Dr Laslett has published her findings in three papers in peer reviewed journals. She currently has three more publications under review and is preparing another three manuscripts for publication. Over the next year, Dr Laslett and her team will collect and analyse sleep data from plwMS. She will finish identifying promising sleep interventions from completed trials and will start co-designing an intervention to deliver sleep education to plwMS. Dr Laslett and her team will also continue analysing changes in sleep over time using AMSLS data and analyse data from TAURUS.2 to determine whether magnetic brain stimulation improves sleep.
Last updated 31 March 2025
Professor Ingrid van der Mei
Professor Bruce Taylor
$225,000
2024
3 years
Current project
