ActivNap

Principal Investigator: Dr Rachael Lawson

Co-Supervisors: Dr Lisa Alcock, Dr Silvia Del Din, Prof John-Paul Taylor
Funding: Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Centre 

ActivNap is a research project that uses existing wearable-sensor data from five major studies (ICICLE-Gait, CREED, DELIRIUM-PD, CiC and IDEA-Fast) to better understand sleep and activity patterns in older adults and people with neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, mild cognitive impairment, and delirium. Across these studies, data from more than 600 participants were collected in real-world settings and inpatient settings using wrist and/or lower-back accelerometers.

Using open-source and custom algorithms, ActivNap will process and refine the sensor data to generate digital health outcomes (DHOs) related to sleep and activity. These DHOs will be evaluated against clinical, cognitive, motor, and neuropsychiatric measures to determine how well they reflect meaningful features of different conditions. A key aim is to identify which digital markers are shared across ageing and Lewy body diseases and which are specific to particular pathologies, such as Lewy body dementia or Parkinson’s disease.

By integrating high-quality existing datasets and applying advanced analytical methods, ActivNap aims to contribute validated digital biomarkers that can enhance monitoring and support future personalised care in Lewy body disorders and related conditions.