Study Implicates Glutamate in Restless Legs Syndrome.

Imaging of individuals' brains while they slept revealed that people with restless legs syndrome have abnormally high levels of glutamate, a neurotransmitter involved in arousal. The more glutamate the researchers found in the brains of those with the condition, the worse their sleep. The Neurology study included 28 people with restless legs syndrome and 20 people without. Currently available drugs – such as the anticonvulsive gabapentin enacarbil – can reduce glutamate levels in the brain, but they have not been given as a first-line treatment for patients with restless legs syndrome.