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Innate immunity may influence the onset of affective symptoms and alter sleep patterns in chronic inflammatory conditions. Here, we tested the prospective associations between baseline serum C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, and CRP/albumin ratio (CAR, i.e., an emerging biomarker of disease activity), and self-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia at 1-year follow up in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (n = 17). After controlling for baseline values, CAR (ρ = 0.591, p = 0.026) predicted anxiety symptoms, while albumin predicted both anxiety (ρ = -0.687, p = 0.007) and insomnia symptoms (ρ = -0.648, p = 0.012). Current findings preliminarily suggest that inflammation may influence anxiety and sleep disturbance in paediatric IBD., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors have no conflict of interest to disclose, (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

While difficulties with emotion regulation (ER) are consistently linked to poor mental health in adulthood, findings in adolescence have been more mixed. Cognitive ER strategies, which involve the ability to manage emotions through mental processes, may be particularly important during different stages of development due to age-specific adjustments. We conducted two exploratory and cross-sectional studies to examine the relationships between cognitive ER strategies and mental health (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms) in two samples: 431 young adults (M age = 20.66 ± 2.21; 70% women and 30% men) and 271 adolescents (M age = 14.80 ± 0.0.59; 44.6% girls and 55.4% boys). The participants completed a group of questionnaires, including the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Youth Self Report. We employed hierarchical multiple regressions to assess the unique contribution of cognitive ER strategies to mental health outcomes. Maladaptive strategies (such as rumination and catastrophizing) were consistently associated with impaired mental health in both samples, while adaptive strategies (such as positive refocusing and positive reappraisal) were only associated with better mental health in young adults. These findings support the importance of cognitive ER strategies as potential risk factors for psychopathology and suggest that interventions aimed at improving emotion regulation may be beneficial. The age-specific differences in the relationship between cognitive ER strategies and mental health may reflect the refinement of emotion regulation abilities across the lifespan.

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is associated with emotional and cognitive functioning, and it is considered a transdiagnostic biomarker for mental disorders. Literature on insomnia related BDNF changes yielded contrasting results and it has never been synthetized using meta-analysis. To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies examining the levels of peripheric BDNF in individuals with insomnia and healthy controls using the PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Scopus, Medline, PsycINFO and CINAHL were searched up to Nov 2022. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria and were assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Eight studies reported sufficient data for meta-analysis. Random-effects models showed lower BDNF in subjects with insomnia (n = 446) than in controls (n = 706) (Hedge's g = -0.86, 95% CI: -1.39 to -0.32, p = .002). Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis confirmed that the pooled effect size was robust and not driven by any single study. However, given the small sample size, the cross-sectional nature of the measurement, and the high heterogeneity of included data, the results should be cautiously interpreted. Progress in the study of BDNF in insomnia is clinically relevant to better understand the mechanisms that may explain the relationship between disturbed sleep and mental disorders., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Previous longitudinal evidence suggested that sleep disturbance (i.e., difficulties in sleep onset and sleep maintenance) may be longitudinally associated with systemic inflammation, which is involved in the pathophysiology of mental and somatic illness. The mechanisms underlying this association, however, remain largely unexplored. In the context of health psychology, a substantial body of literature showed that positive affect may have a favourable impact on immune and inflammatory response and buffer the proinflammatory effects of stress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether subjective sleep disturbance is longitudinally associated with serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, and whether this association is mediated by a decrease in positive affect. The data of 1894 participants aged 64.11 ± 8.02 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) across three waves of data collection were analysed. Self-reported sleep disturbance was assessed in 2008-2009, (wave 4), positive affect was assessed in 2010-2011 (wave 5), and hs-CRP was assessed in 2012-2013 (wave 6). Path analysis adjusted for health-related variables including depressive symptoms, cardiovascular disease, BMI, smoking, alcohol consume, and drug intake showed a significant direct effect of sleep disturbance to positive affect; positive affect directly predicted hs-CRP. Lastly, an indirect effect between sleep disturbance to hs-CRP through the mediating role of positive affect emerged. The findings suggest that sleep onset and sleep maintenance difficulties may be associated with inflammation through the mediation of low positive affect. The clinical significance of the findings should be further explored., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Sleep promotes health, well-being, recovery and athletic performance. As a consequence, sleep problems in athletes may have detrimental effects. Previous investigations showed that professional athletes often reported to suffer of poor sleep quality and insomnia (e.g. difficulties falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep). However, psychological variables exacerbating and maintaining insomnia in professional athletes as well as its mechanistic pathways are still largely unknown. Available literature mostly focused on effects of sport-related variables, such as evening training and stimulant consumption on athletes' sleep. Instead, the contribution of cognitive and emotional variables globally associated with insomnia in athletes in clinical models has been largely neglected. To address these limitations, this study explored the associations between emotional experience, pre-sleep arousal, pre-sleep worry and rumination and insomnia severity in a sample of 210 (25.93 ± 6.68 years) male professional soccer players. Bivariate correlations, multiple regression, and structural equation modelling with manifest variables (path analysis) were computed. Results showed that insomnia severity was associated with stimulants consumption, pre-sleep arousal, negative emotions, positive emotions, and pre-sleep worry/rumination (all p  < .05). Path analysis showed that relationship between stimulant consumption, emotional experience, worry/rumination and insomnia was mediated by pre-sleep arousal ( p  < .05). Our results suggest that preventive and interventional studies in professional soccer players would benefit from considering global cognitive-emotional variables as targets of interventions.HighlightsInsomnia was associated with greater stimulants consumption, pre-sleep arousal, negative emotions, pre-sleep worry/rumination, and lower positive emotions.Path analysis showed that pre-sleep arousal mediated the relationship between stimulant consumption, emotional experience, worry/rumination and insomnia severity.Cognitive-emotional and behavioural factors as well as sport-related variables were important predictors of insomnia in professional soccer players.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT), i.e., worry, rumination, and transdiagnostic repetitive thinking, is thought to exacerbate and perpetuate insomnia in cognitive models. Moreover, RNT is a longitudinal precursor of depression and anxiety, which are often co-present alongside insomnia. Whilst accumulating evidence supports the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in reducing depression and anxiety symptoms, the literature on the effects of CBT-I on RNT has never been systematically appraised. Importantly, preliminary evidence suggests that reduction of RNT following CBT-I may be associated with reduction of depression and anxiety. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of CBT-I on RNT. Seven databases were searched, and 15 randomised controlled trials were included. Results showed moderate-to-large effects of CBT-I on worry (Hedge's g range: -0.41 to g = -0.71) but small and non-reliable effects on rumination (g = -0.13). No clear evidence was found for an association between post-treatment reduction in RNT and post-treatment reduction in depression and anxiety. Although the literature is small and still developing, CBT-I seems to have a stronger impact on sleep-related versus general measures of RNT. We discuss a research agenda aimed at advancing the study of RNT in CBT-I trials., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hospital staff are at the frontline in the COVID-19 outbreak. The stressors they experience may induce sleep problems in a population already at risk. Sleep deprivation, long shifts and insomnia in hospital staff have been associated with individual, organizational and public health hazards. These include increased risk of mental and somatic disorders, altered immune responses, medical errors, misunderstandings, drowsy driving and burnout. In March 2020, the World Health Organization called for providing access to mental health and counselling for health professionals involved in the COVID-19 outbreak. To answer this call, we propose practical advice for the management of sleep problems (sleep deprivation, insomnia and shift work) that can be included in supportive interventions. The advice is based on psychobiological principles of sleep regulation and on guidelines for the treatment of insomnia and was implemented within an initiative offering psychological support to the staff of three university hospitals in Rome., (© 2020 European Sleep Research Society.)

Presleep cognitive intrusions about next-day activities, or proprioceptive and environmental stimuli, are thought to trigger insomnia in neurocognitive models. Recent research showed that intrusive cognitions at bedtime may interact with sleep in influencing next-day emotional functioning; their effects on cognitive functioning, however, is largely unknown. We tested the effects of presleep cognitive intrusions on subjective sleep and next-day cognitive performance in 80 participants, either with chronic insomnia or good sleepers. Presleep intrusions were inspected using a validated questionnaire and sleep was assessed with a sleep diary. Cognitive functioning the following morning was measured using a task-switching paradigm assessing executive functions. Structural equation modeling with manifest variables (i.e., path analysis) shows that presleep cognitive intrusions predicted increased sleep onset latency and wake after sleep onset, and lowered sleep efficiency. Moreover, task-switching accuracy was independently predicted by presleep cognitive intrusions in the previous night in those with insomnia but not in controls, beyond the effects of trait anxiety, task-switching components, and previous night's sleep. Findings confirm detrimental effects of presleep intrusions on sleep continuity and suggest the presence of links between presleep conscious activity and next-day executive performance in patients with insomnia, with the need to better elucidate potential mediators., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Insomnia, the most prevalent sleep disorder worldwide, confers marked risks for both physical and mental health. Furthermore, insomnia is associated with considerable direct and indirect healthcare costs. Recent guidelines in the US and Europe unequivocally conclude that cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) should be the first-line treatment for the disorder. Current treatment approaches are in stark contrast to these clear recommendations, not least across Europe, where, if any treatment at all is delivered, hypnotic medication still is the dominant therapeutic modality. To address this situation, a Task Force of the European Sleep Research Society and the European Insomnia Network met in May 2018. The Task Force proposed establishing a European CBT-I Academy that would enable a Europe-wide system of standardized CBT-I training and training centre accreditation. This article summarizes the deliberations of the Task Force concerning definition and ingredients of CBT-I, preconditions for health professionals to teach CBT-I, the way in which CBT-I should be taught, who should be taught CBT-I and to whom CBT-I should be administered. Furthermore, diverse aspects of CBT-I care and delivery were discussed and incorporated into a stepped-care model for insomnia., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Sleep problems during pregnancy are prevalent and could be linked to negative outcomes during pregnancy or post-partum. However, these complaints are often underdiagnosed and undertreated. This review aimed to systematically assess the effectiveness of different interventions to ameliorate poor sleep quality and insomnia during pregnancy. Pubmed, PsycINFO and Medline databases were systematically searched without publication period restriction until 3rd May 2019. Eligible studies had to: include pregnant women of any age and gestational age; use clinical intervention designs targeted at improving sleep outcome; report pre- and post-treatment data for one or more sleep-related outcomes; be published in English, Italian, German, Spanish, or French. Sixteen studies were selected including 1252 expecting mothers. Studies evaluated the efficacy of various interventions: cognitive behavioral interventions for insomnia (4); pharmacotherapy (1); acupuncture (1); mindfulness and yoga (3); relaxation (5) and herbal medication (2). Only six were randomized controlled trials, and only four evaluated longitudinal outcomes. Preliminary support was found for all interventions, but our knowledge is still too limited by lack of evidence. There is an utmost urgency to perform high-quality randomized controlled trials for insomnia interventions during pregnancy and to implement effective programs in standard gynecological care., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective/Background : According to the Cognitive Model of Insomnia disorder, rumination about lack of sleep and its diurnal consequences plays a crucial role in maintaining insomnia. Consolidated evidence shows that rumination is related to poor executive functions, which are cognitive control processes impacted by insomnia. Despite this evidence, no studies so far investigated the relationship between executive functions and rumination in individuals with insomnia. The aim of this pilot study was to cover this gap by investigating whether poor executive functions are associated with rumination in a sample of individuals with a diagnosis of insomnia disorder. Participants : Thirty young adults (22.67 ± 3.68 years, 73.3% females) diagnosed with insomnia disorder by clinical psychologists with expertise in behavioral sleep medicine completed the study. Methods : Measures of insomnia, depression, emotion regulation, and rumination about the daytime consequences of insomnia were collected. Executive functions were assessed using a Task Switching paradigm, measuring cognitive inhibition and set-shifting with cognitive flexibility. Results : Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that higher depression (β = 0.781, p  < 0.001) and cognitive reappraisal (β = 0.329, p  = 0.016), and poorer cognitive inhibition (β = -0.334, p  = 0.014), significantly predicted higher rumination. Conclusions : Rumination about symptoms of insomnia in a clinical sample is associated with impaired inhibitory but not switching capacities above and beyond the role played by traditional predictors such as depression and emotion regulation strategies. If replicated, present preliminary results suggest the need to target cognitive inhibition deficits in insomnia treatment.

Background and Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a partial sleep deprivation night on executive functions in participants reporting chronic insomnia and good sleepers using a Task Switching paradigm., Methods: Sixteen participants reporting symptoms of chronic insomnia and sixteen good sleepers were tested after a night of habitual sleep and after a night of partial sleep deprivation (5 h of sleep allowed). The Switch Cost (SC) and the Backward Inhibition (BI) were computed as measures of switching attention and response inhibition, respectively., Results: We observed a marginally significant interaction Night × Group on SC (F (1,29)  = 4.06, p = 0.053), η 2  = 0.123. Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) post-hoc revealed a smaller SC after the sleep deprived night relative to the habitual night for the good sleepers (p = 0.027; M = 192.23 ± 201.81 vs M = 98.99 ± 141.16). Differently, participants with insomnia did not show any change after the two nights., Limitations: Several limitations must be acknowledged including the use of a convenient sample of university students and the use of a single task of cognitive performance., Conclusions: We found that SC was smaller in the good sleepers after a night of partial sleep deprivation compared to a habitual night, indicating a better switching performance. The insomnia group showed no differences in performance after the two experimental nights. Several factors may account for these results, including increased levels of arousal and cognitive effort during task execution., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This review aimed to assess the impact of behavioural therapy for insomnia administered alone (BT-I) or in combination with cognitive techniques (cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia, CBT-I) on depressive and fatigue symptoms using network meta-analysis. PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched from 1986 to May 2015. Studies were included if they incorporated sleep restriction, a core technique of BT-I treatment, and an adult insomnia sample, a control group and a standardised measure of depressive and/or fatigue symptoms. Face-to-face, group, self-help and internet therapies were all considered. Forty-seven studies were included in the meta-analysis. Eleven classes of treatment or control conditions were identified in the network. Cohen's d at 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to assess the effect sizes of each treatment class as compared with placebo. Results showed significant effects for individual face-to-face CBT-I on depressive (d = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.06-0.63) but not on fatigue symptoms, with high heterogeneity between studies. The source of heterogeneity was not identified even after including sex, age, comorbidity and risk of bias in sensitivity analyses. Findings highlight the need to reduce variability between study methodologies and suggest potential effects of individual face-to-face CBT-I on daytime symptoms., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Clinical evidence suggests that eating disorder (ED) patients experience poor sleep even if they rarely complain of it. However, direct empirical evidence supporting this relationship is still sparse. In order to provide direct evidence, poor sleep, severity of the ED symptoms and depression were obtained in 562 ED patients at treatment admission (T0). For 271 patients out of them, data were also available after 6months of standard treatment (T1). Results evidence that at T0 poor sleep predicts severity of ED symptoms through the mediation of depression. Persistence of poor sleep at T1 directly predicts the severity of the ED symptoms both directly and through the mediation of depression. These findings suggest that the treatment of ED may benefit from addressing poor sleep since its presence and persistence increase comorbidity and attrition to the standard treatment., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Study Objectives: Alterations in emotional reactivity may play a key role in the pathophysiology of insomnia disorder (ID). However, only few supporting experimental data are currently available. We evaluated in a hypothesis-driven design whether patients with ID present altered amygdale responses to emotional stimuli related and unrelated to the experience of insomnia and, because of chronic hyperarousal, less habituation of amygdala responses., Design: Case-control study., Setting: Departments of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and of Radiology of the University of Freiburg Medical Center., Participants: There were 22 patients with ID (15 females; 7 males; age 40.7 ± 12.6 y) and 38 healthy good sleepers (HGS, 21 females; 17 males; age 39.6 ± 8.9 y)., Interventions: N/A., Measurements and Results: In a functional magnetic resonance imaging session, five different blocks of pictures with varying emotional arousal, valence, and content (insomnia-relatedness) were presented. Pictures were presented twice to test for habituation processes. Results showed that patients with ID, compared to HGS, presented heightened amygdala responses to insomnia-related stimuli. Moreover, habituation of amygdale responses was observed only in HGS, but not in patients with ID who showed a mixed pattern of amygdala responses to the second presentation of the stimuli., Conclusions: The results provide evidence for an insomnia-related emotional bias in patients with ID. Cognitive behavior treatment for ID could benefit from strategies dealing with the emotional charge associated with the disorder. Further studies should clarify the role of ID with respect to habituation of amygdala responses., (© 2014 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.)

Background: In many patients with depression, symptoms of insomnia herald the onset of the disorder and may persist into remission or recovery, even after adequate treatment. Several studies have raised the question whether insomniac symptoms may constitute an independent clinical predictor of depression. This meta-analysis is aimed at evaluating quantitatively if insomnia constitutes a predictor of depression., Methods: PubMed, Medline, PsycInfo, and PsycArticles databases were searched from 1980 until 2010 to identify longitudinal epidemiological studies simultaneously investigating insomniac complaints and depressed psychopathology. Effects were summarized using the logarithms of the odds ratios for insomnia at baseline to predict depression at follow-up. Studies were pooled with both fixed- and random-effects meta-analytic models in order to evaluate the concordance. Heterogeneity test and sensitivity analysis were computed., Results: Twenty-one studies met inclusion criteria. Considering all studies together, heterogeneity was found. The random-effects model showed an overall odds ratio for insomnia to predict depression of 2.60 (confidence interval [CI]: 1.98-3.42). When the analysis was adjusted for outliers, the studies were not longer heterogeneous. The fixed-effects model showed an overall odds ratio of 2.10 (CI: 1.86-2.38)., Limitations: The main limit is that included studies did not always consider the role of other intervening variables., Conclusions: Non-depressed people with insomnia have a twofold risk to develop depression, compared to people with no sleep difficulties. Thus, early treatment programs for insomnia might reduce the risk for developing depression in the general population and be considered a helpful general preventive strategy in the area of mental health care., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Insomnia disorder is defined as difficulties in initiating/maintaining sleep and/or non-restorative sleep accompanied by decreased daytime functioning, persisting for at least four weeks. For many patients suffering from depression and anxiety, insomnia is a pervasive problem. Many of the aetiological theories of insomnia postulate that heightened emotional reactivity contributes to the maintenance of symptoms. This review focuses on the role of emotional reactivity in insomnia, and how the relationship between insomnia and depression and anxiety may be mediated by emotional reactivity. Furthermore, studies investigating the valence of emotions in insomnia are reviewed. Overall, there is empirical evidence that dysfunctional emotional reactivity might mediate the interaction between cognitive and autonomic hyperarousal, thus contributing to the maintenance of insomnia. Moreover, dysfunctions in sleep-wake regulating neural circuitries seem to be able to reinforce emotional disturbances. It seems plausible that dysfunctional emotional reactivity modulates the relationship between insomnia and depression and anxiety. Considering the interaction between sleep and emotional valence, poor sleep quality seems to correlate with high negative and low positive emotions, both in clinical and subclinical samples. Good sleep seems to be associated with high positive emotions, but not necessarily with low negative emotions. This review underlines the need for future research on emotions in insomnia., ((c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The present study examined psychophysiological reactivity to emotional stimuli related and non-related to sleep in people with primary insomnia (PPI) and in good sleepers (GS). Twenty-one PPI and 18 GS were presented with five blocks of neutral, negative, positive, sleep-related negative and sleep-related positive pictures. During the presentation of the pictures, facial electromyography (EMG) of the corrugator and the zygomatic muscles, heart rate (HR) and cardiac vagal tone (CVT) were recorded. Subjective ratings of the stimuli were also collected. We found that only PPI exhibited greater inhibition of the corrugator activity in response to sleep-related positive stimuli compared to the other blocks of stimuli. Furthermore, PPI rated the sleep-related negative stimuli as more unpleasant and arousing and showed higher CVT in response to all stimuli as compared to GS. Results were interpreted as indicating that PPI exhibit craving for sleep-related positive stimuli, and also hyper-arousability in response to sleep-related negative stimuli, as compared to GS. Our results suggest that psychological treatment of insomnia could benefit by the inclusion of strategies dealing with emotional processes linked with sleep processes., (Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Sleep disorders are among the factors that can reduce the quality of life in patients with chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease patients could benefit from an accurate evaluation and treatment of insomnia because this sleep disorder is associated with a high persistence-relapse rate, poor physical health, and mental disease (anxiety, depression) both in terms of comorbidity and antecedent. A multilayer evaluation of insomnia is possible because of valid and reliable instruments (both objective and subjective). Furthermore, a rational etiologic model of insomnia allows better understanding and treatment as a result of effective cognitive-behavioral techniques.

Study Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the cortical arousal level in subjects with primary insomnia varies according to their quality of nighttime sleep., Design: The P300 ERP was recorded each day, before and after sleep actigraphically monitored for 1 week. For each participant, the nights of worst- and best-quality sleep were identified., Participants: Seven subjects with primary insomnia and 7 control subjects., Measurements and Results: The P300 amplitudes were compared by considering group (insomnia vs control), night (worst vs best), and moment of recording (before vs after sleep) as factors. The subjects with insomnia showed higher P300 amplitudes, as compared with amplitudes of control subjects, only for the worst night of sleep., Conclusions: Results indicate a relationship between variations in sleep quality and cortical arousal level in subjects with primary insomnia.

The SDQ is a brief self-report insomnia questionnaire, which permits the rapid evaluation of insomnia based on the DSM-IV and ICSD-R criteria. The SDQ was developed to provide a fast and valid instrument both for the pre-screening of subjects who complain of insomnia and for epidemiological studies based on standardized definitions of this sleep disorder. Two studies were carried out in order to assess the validity of the SDQ as a self-report measure of insomnia. In the first study the convergent validity of the SDQ was assessed with respect to the global score of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in a sample of general practitioners' patients. The second study assessed the sensitivity and the specificity of the SDQ in discriminating between insomniacs or normal sleepers in a sample of college students who were given an extensive sleep evaluation within an insomnia counseling program. The SDQ classifications have a good convergent validity with the global sleep quality scores of the PSQI and its classifications of students who complain of or who do not complain of problems of insomnia have a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 87%. Results indicate that the SDQ is a valid paper and pencil instrument to screen insomnia.

Objective: The hyperarousal hypothesis is evaluated while controlling the influence of the quality of sleep in the night preceding the evaluation., Method: Eleven primary insomniacs and 11 healthy age matched controls participated to the study. Participants filled in 2 weeks of sleep logs and self-monitored their subjective tension the evening before and the morning after each night. Afterwards, subjects were called in to the Lab for a recording session of the P300 ERP (oddball paradigm) once after a night of bad sleep quality (N-) and once after a night of good sleep quality (N+)., Results: The main result of the present study indicated that the P300 amplitude at Fz in insomniacs resulted higher following a N- and lower following a N+ with respect to controls., Conclusions: This result suggests that cortical hyperarousal in primary insomniacs is not a stable individual characteristic, but is associated with the poor quality of their nocturnal sleep., (Copyright 2003 Elsevier Science Inc.)