Neuroimaging Studies in Insomnia

Chronic insomnia is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and has a significant impact on individual’s health. However, the pathophysiology of the disorder is poorly understood. The current review focuses on neuroimaging findings in insomnia. In summary, the current data suggest the follow...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current psychiatry reports 2013-11, Vol.15 (11), p.405-405, Article 405
Main Authors: Spiegelhalder, Kai, Regen, Wolfram, Baglioni, Chiara, Riemann, Dieter, Winkelman, John W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brain - metabolism
Brain - physiopathology
Humans
Insomnia
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Neuroimaging
Neuroimaging - methods
Psychiatry
Section Editor
Sleep Disorders (RM Benca
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - physiopathology
Topical Collection on Sleep Disorders
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Chronic insomnia is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and has a significant impact on individual’s health. However, the pathophysiology of the disorder is poorly understood. The current review focuses on neuroimaging findings in insomnia. In summary, the current data suggest the following: (1) insomnia is characterized by corticolimbic overactivity during sleep and wakefulness that interferes with sleep initiation and/or maintenance; (2) insomnia patients’ daytime performance is associated with a hypoactivation of task-related areas; (3) neurochemically, insomnia patients are probably characterized by reduced cortical GABA levels; (4) insomnia may be associated with abnormal brain morphometry in the frontal cortex, hippocampus and/or anterior cingulate cortex. Future investigations should include larger sample sizes or longitudinal within-subject comparisons. Other possible methodological improvements are discussed.
ISSN:1523-3812
1535-1645
DOI:10.1007/s11920-013-0405-0