Chronic insomniacs who lose sleep may also be missing brain matter, say Dutch researchers.
Using brain imaging to study the part of the brain that regulates decisions and rest, the researchers compared the white and grey matter volumes of 24 older, chronic insomnia patients to 13 normal sleepers.
They found severe insomniacs exhibited the most extensive density loss, regardless of how long they had suffered from the disorder, said Biological Psychiatry.
However, the researchers said they were not yet able to pin down whether sleeplessness precedes grey matter loss or the other way around.
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