Insomniacs Show Different Brain Activity

January 24th, 2018

After a sleepless night, have you ever said, “It’s like I just can’t turn off my brain at night?” For people with insomnia, that may be literally true. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently published an article in the journal SLEEP showing that some regions of the brain may not completely shut down in people with insomnia. After comparing brain scans from 44 research participants who are good sleepers and 40 participants with insomnia, researchers found that participants with insomnia showed higher than expected levels of brain activity during sleep, and lower levels of brain activity while awake. Senior author Dr. Daniel Buysse, professor of psychiatry and clinical and translational science, and the UPMC Professor of Sleep Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, hopes these findings lead to a better understanding of insomnia and help to identify better treatments for insomnia.

Do you suffer from insomnia? Read about other research opportunities offered by Dr. Buysse.