New Delhi: Structural changes in the brain responsible for attention, decision-making and emotional control could be associated with sleep disorders, a study by researchers at Florida International University (FIU) in the US has found.
Published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports on 26 February, the study examined the results of 57 brain imaging studies which may help improve diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.
“The findings could help in developing better diagnostic tools, therapies and personalised therapies,” lead author Katharine Crooks said in a statement.
The study estimated that 50 million to 70 million Americans have sleep disorders. But researchers warned that the findings do not show whether brain changes cause sleep disorders or result from them.
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What the study found
For the study, researchers found structural changes in the thalamus, a part of the brain that filters information, supports attention and helps with thinking in people with different sleep disorders. They also found differences in the pulvinar, a part of the thalamus that helps to direct attention and control behaviour. These changes could help to explain why people with sleep disorders often have poor concentration, slower reactions, difficulty making decisions and an increased risk of errors and accidents.
The study compared two broad categories of sleep disorders. The first, dyssomnias, encompasses conditions such as insomnia and sleep apnoea, where it is hard to fall asleep, stay asleep or get restorative sleep. The second, parasomnias, includes conditions such as sleepwalking, nightmare disorder and sleep terrors, where unusual behaviors or experiences interrupt sleep.
Both groups showed changes in the thalamus but only parasomnias consistently showed structural changes in the posterior cingulate cortex, a brain region involved in motivation, decision making and emotional regulation. The researchers say these changes may help explain the mood and behavioural problems sometimes seen in people with these disorders.
No specific structural changes were found that were consistent in dyssomnias. The study will help understand how sleep disorders affect the brain differently depending on how they disrupt sleep, researchers said.
“By bringing together the results of many studies, this research gives a clearer picture of how sleep disorders affect the structure and function of the brain, and where we should focus next,” senior author Matthew Sutherland, a cognitive neuroscientist at FIU, said in a statement.
Future research will examine individual parasomnias, such as sleepwalking and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder, to see if the brain changes are a cause, a consequence or a combination of the two.
(Edited by Stela Dey)