We always welcome new research into insomnia, and the latest to pop up on our radar is very interesting. A study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry found that insomnia patients had a smaller volume of grey matter in the left orbitofrontal cortex of their brains, compared to those without sleep problems.
The more severe the sleeping problem, the less grey matter density there was in this region – which is responsible for evaluating ‘pleasantness’ and recognising comfort (helpful when trying to fall asleep).
We found the real importance of this study to be the fact that insomnia was associated with a physical cause/consequence. We’re often told about the psychological links with insomnia – but very rarely do we hear of any physiological links.
This is a fascinating piece of research. You can read more about it at National Geographic.
