Chronic insomnia does not only have negative effects in the short term, but can also have serious consequences on long-term health: this is why understanding its causes and trying to fight it is important to live better and healthier.
A study published in Sleep Medicine suggests that the basis of sleepless nights could be an alteration of the brain’s circadian rhythm, i.e. your own internal clockwhich would struggle to turn off when the time comes to sleep.
No sleeping! The researchers involved 32 adults between 65 and 73 years old, half with insomnia and half without sleep disorders, and kept them awake in bed for 24 hours. During this period the participants had to complete a questionnaire every hour on the quality of their thoughts (specifying whether they were, for example, repetitive, clear or confused) and evaluate their metacognitive activity (i.e. the control they had over the mind).
Impossible to turn off your brain. The results revealed a clear difference between those who suffered from insomnia and those who had no problems sleeping well.
In insomniac subjects, thoughts remained constantly active and under control for all 24 hours, without ever slipping into the state of relaxation and confusion typical of the night; on the contrary, those who slept well showed clearer thoughts during the day and more repetitive and circular thoughts at night.
The moment of maximum mental clarity also differed between the two groups: in the insomniacs, the peak of cognitive performance occurred about six and a half hours later than in the control group. This delay suggests a misalignment of the brain’s internal clock, which would explain why those who spend sleepless nights remain mentally active when they should be relaxing.
Not just psychology. While acknowledging some limitations to their study, such as the small sample size and advanced age of the participants, the authors state that insomnia is not just a psychological problem, but has a chronobiological component. Knowing this opens the way to new therapeutic approaches, which are not limited to the use of drugs or the modification of daily habits but aim to rebalance the brain’s circadian rhythms.
