AASM Membership Sections Newsletter Issue #2
13
Parasomnias Section
2012–2013
CHAIR
Alon Avidan, MD, MPH
VICE-CHAIR
Aleksandar Videnovic, MD
MEMBERS
Michel Cramer Bornemann, MD
Ramadevi Gourineni, MD
Ravindra Chandrashekhar, MD
The parasomnia section is one of the eight membership sections of
the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Our overall aim is to pro-
vide a channel of communication between our members and the
AASM and to promote collaboration among members of our section
and across sections.
The section covers topics related to abnormal sleep related move-
ments, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, dreaming, and autonomic
nervous system functioning. Information is distributed through various
venues such as sessions during the APSS meetings and the online discus-
sion forum. Last summer, our membership meeting included key discus-
sions, which included a presentation of parasomnia updates proposed by
the
International Classification of Sleep Disorders
Task Force.
(1)
RBD Registry project:
Dr. Videnovic has been working on a
proposal to develop a nation-wide registry of patients affected by REM
Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD). RBD is increasingly being recognized as
a potential marker of a developing neurodegenerative disorders, mainly
synucleinopathies. Creating a Registry of patients with RBD is timely
and will allow the medical and scientific community access to the RBD
population for collaborative research projects and most importantly for
testing of disease modifying/neuroprotective therapies for neurodegen-
erative disorders once they become available.
(2)
ICSD-III parasomnia updates:
As the parasomnia section leader
in the
ICSD
Task Force, Dr. Cramer Bornemann will be keeping the
membership informed about recommended updates and revisions to the
Diagnostic Criteria and Text of the Parasomnia Section. Final recom-
mendations will require approval by both the ICSD-III Task Force and
the AASM Board of Directors. Work is on-going and will also incorpo-
rate the involvement of external reviewers. The scheduled release for the
new ICSD-III is anticipated for 2013.