Chronic Sleep Problems

The brain of older people with chronic sleep problems differ from the brain of their peers who slept well. Nevertheless, older people feel good, despite the lack of sleep. They moved to a continuous form of light stress, which resulted in, sometimes, feel even better than their peers who likes to sleep well says Dutch researcher Ellemarie Altena.

The researchers examined brain activity study participants when performing different tasks. During the performance of the tasks of the brain activity of people with poor sleep was lower than in people with normal sleep. However, they have demonstrated good performance in spite of this, that according to scientists associated with the state of hyperactivation. Hyperactivation is similar to the constant light stress. Not yet known whether hyperactivation negative side effects, however, stress can lead to mental and physical problems.

The researchers found that the brains of people suffering from insomnia, not only works differently, but has a different view. Gray matter in certain areas of the brain has a lower density. They also have reduced the density in one section of orbitofrontal cortex. The latter may mean that the anomalies in the gray matter give an increased risk of insomnia. Nevertheless, reducing the density of gray matter does not necessarily mean that the functions of the brain worse.