Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May;45(5):2301-2310.
doi: 10.1007/s10072-023-07224-7. Epub 2023 Dec 8.

Sex-specific grey matter abnormalities in individuals with chronic insomnia

Jingwen Li #  1   2 , Xinzhi Wang #  1 , Mengchen Liu  1 , Yi Yin  1 , Yunfan Wu  1 , Guang Xu  3 , Xiaofen Ma  4   5
Affiliations

Sex-specific grey matter abnormalities in individuals with chronic insomnia

Jingwen Li et al. Neurol Sci. 2024 May.

Abstract

Previous studies have reported sex differences in altered brain function in patients with chronic insomnia (CI). However, sex-related alterations in brain morphology have rarely been investigated. This study aimed to investigate sex-specific grey matter (GM) alterations in patients with CI and to examine the relationship between GM alterations and neuropsychological assessments. Ninety-three (65 females and 28 males) patients and 78 healthy (50 females and 28 males) controls were recruited. Structural magnetic resonance imaging data were analysed using voxel-based morphometry to test for interactions between sex and diagnosis. Spearman's correlation was used to assess the associations among structure, disease duration, and sleep-, mood-, and cognition-related assessments. Males with CI showed reduced GM volume in the left inferior parietal lobe, left middle cingulate cortex, and right supramarginal gyrus. Females with CI showed increased GM volume in the right Rolandic operculum. Moreover, mood-related assessments were negatively correlated with GM volumes in the right supramarginal gyrus and left inferior parietal lobe in the male patients, and cognitive-related assessments were positively correlated with GM volumes in the Rolandic operculum in the female patients. Our findings indicate sex-specific alterations in brain morphology in CI, thereby broadening our understanding of sex differences in CI and potentially providing complementary evidence for the development of more effective therapies and individual treatments.

Keywords: Brain structure; Chronic insomnia; Grey matter; Sex difference.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Morin CM, Jarrin DC, Ivers H et al (2020) Incidence, Persistence, and Remission Rates of Insomnia Over 5 Years. JAMA Netw Open 3:e2018782. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.18782 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Van Someren EJW (2021) Brain mechanisms of insomnia: new perspectives on causes and consequences. Physiol Rev 101:995–1046. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00046.2019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hertenstein E, Feige B, Gmeiner T et al (2019) Insomnia as a predictor of mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev 43:96–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2018.10.006 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Riemann D, Nissen C, Palagini L et al (2015) The neurobiology, investigation, and treatment of chronic insomnia. Lancet Neurol 14:547–558. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(15)00021-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fan M, Sun D, Zhou T et al (2020) Sleep patterns, genetic susceptibility, and incident cardiovascular disease: a prospective study of 385 292 UK biobank participants. Eur Heart J 41:1182–1189. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehz849 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources