Insomnia brain scans show different patterns in structure and activity
A review of brain imaging studies found that structural and activity differences associated with insomnia appeared in different locations, leaving their relationship unresolved.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The pooled imaging studies found differences in both brain gray matter volume and spontaneous activity in people with insomnia compared with healthy controls. However, the structural and activity differences appeared in different regions. This describes a pattern associated with insomnia; it does not show whether insomnia caused the differences or resulted from them.
The abstract gives no participant count, pooled effect sizes or uncertainty estimates. Its interpretation about cognition and emotion concerns the implicated brain regions; results from tests of those outcomes are not reported.
Different features of brain scans
The researchers combined earlier brain imaging comparisons. Gray matter volume represented structure, while the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations represented spontaneous activity. These measures describe different features of the scans and were analyzed separately.
Interpreting the mismatch
The activity and volume differences did not map onto the same locations. The authors interpret that mismatch as disrupted coordination between brain structure and function, but the abstract does not directly test that proposed explanation.
The original publication
Structural and functional abnormalities in relevant brain regions of patients with insomnia disorders: a systematic review and multimodal neuroimaging meta-analysis.
Li SN, Yu Y, Hu B et al.
Neuroscience · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41022350
- Record checked
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