Understanding and targeting negative effort dependence in sleep apnea
Official title: The Role of Negative Effort Dependence as a Targetable Mechanism of Upper Airway Collapse in Sleep Disordered Breathing
Funded at VA San Diego Healthcare System · NIH-11566570 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A doctor-scientist team is studying how breathing effort changes within breaths in sleep apnea to find better ways to prevent airway collapse.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA San Diego Healthcare System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Diego, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2024 |
| Project end | December 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2027 |
| NIH project number | 5IK2CX002524-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11566570 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with obstructive sleep apnea or flow-limited breathing during sleep who could participate in future trials or related observational studies.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals without sleep apnea or without involvement in flow-limitation mechanisms may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project centers on Dr. Brandon Nokes’s five-year plan to build expertise in upper airway physiology, signal processing, and clinical trial design to understand negative effort dependence in sleep-disordered breathing. It combines career development with mechanistic sleep physiology research, aiming to connect how breathing effort influences flow limitation in obstructive sleep apnea. The work will involve training with a team of established experts and applying advanced analysis to physiological signals from sleep studies. The ultimate goal is to inform future therapies and improve patient outcomes through better trial design and biomarkers.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could lead to new insights that improve airway control during sleep and guide future clinical trials for sleep apnea treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research in sleep apnea has shown that understanding breathing mechanics can inform treatment approaches, though this exact mechanism is being explored anew.
Where this research is happening
-
VA San Diego Healthcare System
San Diego, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nokes, Brandon Thomas — VA San Diego Healthcare System
- Study coordinator: Nokes, Brandon Thomas
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Night-to-night sleep-disordered breathing differences in women and men
A study to find better biomarkers for sleep apnea severity, especially in women, by monitoring people at home for a week and tracking daily mood and energy.
-
Serotonin-containing brain cells that help breathing when opioids are used
Aims to understand how certain brain serotonin cells can reduce opioid-related sleep breathing problems while keeping pain relief.
-
Sleep factors in obesity and diabetes linked to dementia risk in Look AHEAD participants
This study looks at how sleep problems and daily activity rhythms relate to the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes who were part of the Look AHEAD trial.
-
Melanocortin-4 receptor drugs to help sleep apnea in obesity
A study tests MC4R-activating drugs to help people with obesity-related sleep-disordered breathing who struggle with current treatments.
-
Serotonin brain circuits to support breathing during opioids and sleep problems
This grant investigates how specific serotonin-producing brain cells can help keep breathing and airway muscles working when people take opioids and have sleep-disordered breathing, without affecting pain relief.
-
Sleep disorders in veterans with spinal cord injury or disease
A nationwide VA study will look at how common sleep-disordered breathing is in veterans with spinal cord injury or disease and how it relates to sleep, cognition, and heart health.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.