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Neuroimaging Studies in Insomnia

Authors :
Chiara Baglioni
Wolfram Regen
Dieter Riemann
Kai Spiegelhalder
John W. Winkelman
Source :
Current Psychiatry Reports. 15
Publication Year :
2013
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2013.

Abstract

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.

Details

ISSN :
15351645 and 15233812
Volume :
15
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Current Psychiatry Reports
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....0df04dc7e8d05570283ecc7c588b18bd
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-013-0405-0