Research Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal Neurologist, Neurology Service, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal 514-338-2693 alex.desautels(at)umontreal.ca Education: M.D. specialized in Neurology (Université de Montréal) Ph.D. in Neurological Sciences (Université de Montréal and McGill University) M.Sc. in Visual Sciences (Université de Montréal) Research Interests: Physiology of normal and pathological sleep. Development of diagnosis methods and treatments of sleep disorders. Medical conditions of interest: Restless Legs Syndrome, Sleepwalking, Narcolepsy. Methodologies: Polysomnography, electrophysiology, human genetics, pharmacology, clinical intervention.
Team in training:

Recent publications:

Pilon M, Desautels A, Montplaisir J, Zadra A. Auditory Arousal Responses and Thresholds during REM and NREM Sleep of Sleepwalkers and Controls. Sleep Med [in press].

Desautels A, Michaud M, Lanfranchi P, Lavigne GJ, Montplaisir J. Periodic limb movements in sleep. Dans: Chokroverty S, Montagna P, Allen RP, Walters AS, Sleep and Movement Disorders, 2e Edition; Chapitre 51 [in press].

Kornum BR, Kawashima M, Faraco J, Lin L, Rico TJ, Hesselson S, Axtell RC, (…), Miyagawa T, Desautels A, (…) Risch N, Hallmayer J, Mignot E. Common variants in P2RY11 are associatedwithnarcolepsy. Nat Genet 2011, 43, 66-71.

Dauvilliers Y, Montplaisir J, Cochen V, Desautels A, Einen M, Lin L, Kawashima M, Bayard S, Monaca C, Tiberge M, Filipini D, Tripathy A, Nguyen BH, Kotagal S, Mignot E. Post-H1N1 narcolepsy-cataplexy. Sleep 2010, 33(11), 1428-30.

Xiong L, Montplaisir J, Desautels A, Barhdadi A, Turecki G, Levchenko A, Thibodeau P, Dubé MP, Gaspar C, Rouleau GA. Family study of restless legs syndrome in Quebec, Canada: clinical characterization of 671 familial cases. Arch Neurol 2010, 67(5), 617-22.

Hallmayer J, Faraco J, Lin L, Hesselson S, Winkelmann J, (…), Akana M, Miyagawa T, Duan J, Desautels A, (…), Risch N, Mignot E. Narcolepsy is strongly associated with the TCR alpha locus. Nat Genet 2009, 41(6), 708-11.

Levchenko A, Montplaisir JY, Asselin G, Provost S, Girard S, Xiong L, Lemyre E, St-Onge J, Thibodeau P, Desautels A, Turecki G, Gaspar C, Dubé MP, Rouleau GA. Autosomal-dominant locus for restless legs syndrome in French-Canadians on chromosome 16p12.1. Mov Disord 2009, 24(1), 40-50.

Desautels A, Turecki G, Montplaisir J, Xiong L, Walters, AS, Ehrenberg, BL, Brisebois K, Desautels AK, Gingras Y, Johnson WG, Lugaresi E, Coccagna G, Picchietti DL, Lazzarini A, Rouleau GA. Restless legs syndrome: confirmation of linkage to chromosome 12q, genetic heterogeneity, and evidence of complexity. Arch Neurol 2005, 62(4), 591-6.

Desautels A, Turecki G, Montplaisir J, Rochefort D, Rouleau GA, Mutational Analysis of Neurotensin in Familial Restless Legs Syndrome. Mov Disord 2004, 19, 90-94.