With the help of functional MRI (fMRI) technology, researchers have been able to identify certain areas of the brain associated with poor sleep quality and depression, according to a study published July 25 in JAMA Psychiatry.
"These findings provides a neural basis for understanding how depression is associated with poor sleep quality, and this in turn has implications for treatment because of the brain areas identified," wrote corresponding author Jianfeng Feng, PhD, of the Institute of Science and Technology or Brain-inspired Intelligence at Fudan University in Shanghai.
To better understand the neural bases of depression and their association with poor sleep, the researchers analyzed 1,017 participants (54 percent female, age range 22 to 35 years) from the United States involved in the Human Connectome Project. Additionally, 92 participants were already diagnosed with depression at least once during their lives.
"These participants had a significantly mean (SD) higher score (7.55 [4.83] points) than the other participants (3.70 [3.07] points; t982 = −10.8; P < .001) on the Depressive Problems scale," Feng et al. wrote.
All study participants underwent resting state fMRI scans and completed a self-reported survey regarding their sleep quality and depression. The researchers then used the data to segment gray matter of the entire brain into 250 regions of interest. Cross validation of sleep findings was conducted in 8,718 participants from the U.K. Biobank.
Feng and colleagues found a total of 162 function connections linked to key areas of the brain associated with sleep quality, including the precuneus, anterior cingulate cortex and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Of these, 39 were also associated with the Depressive Problems scores, according to the researchers.
A mediation analysis showed that brain areas with increased functional connectivity associated with both sleep and depression included the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior and posterior cingulate cortices, insula, parahippocampal gyrus, hippocampus, amygdala, temporal cortex and precuneus.
"Strengths of the present investigation are the large number of participants (1017), leading to robust findings; cross validation with an independent data set; the mediation analysis, which links the findings to recent advances in understanding brain mechanisms associated with depression; and the inherent interest of the findings to a wide readership," the researchers wrote.
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.