With the help of 192 Vietnam War veterans, researchers at UW-Madison discovered a link between brain damage and insomnia which was published in a study in the Journal of Neuroscience.
All the veterans have damage to one side of the brain, caused by penetrating head injuries during the war.
Using CT scans of the veterans' brains, the researchers determined an association between insomnia and individuals with damage to the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC).
Because insomnia often occurs in people who also suffer from depression and anxiety, researchers realized the correlation between insomnia and the dmPFC could be because the dmPFC brain area regulates mood.
However, the researchers tested a subset of veterans who suffer from anxiety and depression, but not insomnia, and found no damage to the dmPFC.
The study, the first to discover a link between the specific brain area and insomnia, provides ""novel insight into the neurobiological mechanisms of sleep maintenance,"" according to the study.
Members of the research team include assistant professor of psychiatry Michael Koenigs and Jessica Holliday of University of Wisconsin of Medicine and Public Health, Jeffrey Solomon of Medical Numerics Inc. and Jordan Grafman of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
