Elucidating the Effects of Sleep Deprivation: Exploring fMRI Imaging Biomarkers to Analyze Brain Functions Related to Insomnia.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to propose functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) imaging biomarkers for the diagnosis of insomnia by examining the brain maps of young and old people during sleep deprivation (SD).

Materials and methods: A total of 50 healthy individuals were selected in two groups, including the young group: 17 people (20 to 30 years) and the elderly group: 23 people (65 to 75 years), who were involved in a 1-month period of SD, so that during the experiment they woke up 3 hours earlier than usual. Insomnia and sleepiness questionnaires were collected from these individuals (OpenfMRI website). Independent component analysis (ICA) processing was performed using the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT) toolbox on old and young people's data. Correlations between clinical variables and imaging were performed to extract insomnia biomarkers with a significance level of P = 0.05.

Results: In the dynamic range variable, the difference in the effect of insomnia between the two groups was significant in areas such as the inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), superior temporal gyrus (STG), and posterior cingulate (PC). The fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) variable in the anterior cingulate and precuneus areas, as well as the spatial map variable in areas such as the inferior semilunar lobule, anterior cingulate, subcallosal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus (MTG) between the two groups, was significantly different (P = 0.05).

Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, brain activity map in sleep-deprived people has a significant change in some brain areas and this effect is different in old and young adults.