Brain
Chronic insomniacs losing out on sleep may also be missing brain matter.
New research using the latest brain imaging has found a link with chronic insomnia and lower grey matter density in areas that regulate the brain's ability to make decisions and to rest. The findings could lead to new treatment plans for people who struggle with insomnia.
"The findings predict that chronic insomnia sufferers may have compromised capacities to evaluate the affective value of stimuli," said Ellemarijie Altena, lead author of the study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. "This could have consequences for other cognitive processes, notably decision-making."
The study, published in Biological Psychiatry, compared the white and grey matter volumes of 24 older, chronic insomnia patients to 13 normal sleepers, and controlled for physical and psychiatric disorders that could also alter brain densities.
Severe insomniacs exhibited the most extensive density loss, regardless of how long they had suffered from the disorder, but the research team have been unable to determine whether sleeplessness preceded grey matter loss or was the cause of the loss.
Sleep researchers have long recognised that insomnia disrupts brain functioning and behavior, but this study begins to answer why that behaniour occurs hopefully leading to better and more effective treatment.