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Insomnia Disorder and Brain’s Default-Mode Network

  • Sleep (M Thorpy and M Billiard, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Insomnia disorder (ID) is a prevalent sleep disorder that significantly compromises the physical and mental health of individuals. This article reviews novel approaches in the study of brain networks and impaired function in ID through the application of modern neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Recent Findings

The default-mode network (DMN) is presumed to be correlated with self-referential information processing, and it appears to be altered or unbalanced in insomnia.

Summary

A growing body of evidence suggests the lack of deactivation of brain regions comprising the DMN when insomnia patients are at rest. Moreover, core areas of the DMN demonstrate greater activation in insomnia patients when compared to healthy controls in self-referential related tasks. Despite the few studies on the topic, underpinning the correlation between abnormal DMN activity and ID deserves further attention in the future. Implications for therapeutics are briefly outlined.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank José Moutinho dos Santos, Vanda Clemente, and Isabel Catarina Duarte for the collaboration in some of the studies referred in the current paper. First author benefited from a PhD Grant (SFRH/BD/77557/2011) from FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia); some empirical works cited in this article were also supported by FCTUID/NEU/04539/2013 provided to CNC.IBILI (Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal), BIAL Foundation Grant 170/10, Programa Ciência 2008, and project Grant PTDC/SAU-BEB/100147/2008 (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia). The authors also acknowledge the Department of Education and Psychology for supporting these studies and this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Daniel Ruivo Marques

  2. CINEICC - Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Daniel Ruivo Marques & Ana Allen Gomes

  3. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, 3000-115, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana Allen Gomes

  4. ISR-Lisboa/LARSyS and Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gina Caetano

  5. Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT, ICNAS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Miguel Castelo-Branco

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  1. Daniel Ruivo Marques
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  2. Ana Allen Gomes
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  3. Gina Caetano
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  4. Miguel Castelo-Branco
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Correspondence to Daniel Ruivo Marques.

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Conflict of Interest

Daniel Ruivo Marques, Ana Allen Gomes, Gina Caetano, and Miguel Castelo-Branco each declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Sleep

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Marques, D.R., Gomes, A.A., Caetano, G. et al. Insomnia Disorder and Brain’s Default-Mode Network. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 18, 45 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-018-0861-3

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