Brain waves predict our risk for insomnia

There may not yet be a cure for insomnia, but Concordia researchers are a step closer to predicting who is most likely to suffer from it — just in time for World Sleep Day on March 13.

In their study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, professor Thien Thanh Dang-Vu, from Concordia’s Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology and PERFORM Center, and psychology professor Jean-Philippe Gouin, explore the impact of stress on sleep. Although researchers already know that stressful events can trigger insomnia, the experiment reveals why some people are more vulnerable than others to developing the condition.

Twelve Concordia students had their sleep cycles examined at the PERFORM Center sleep laboratory. Measuring students’ brain waves at the beginning of the school semester, the research team found that students showing a lower amount of a particular pattern of brain waves called sleep spindles were more at risk for developing insomnia afterwards in response to the stress of the exams. 

“We are not all equally armed when facing stress, in terms of how we can manage our sleep. Some people are more vulnerable than others.”

So how do you get these better spindles? Are there meditation practices you can adopt? Will gyms begin introducing spindle classes? Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do at the moment, since spindles seem to be at least partially dependent on genetics.

But Dang-Vu, who is also a medical doctor and neurologist at the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, says that exploring ways to improve spindles is another prospective area for research. Measuring spindle activity may also help identify people at risk of insomnia before the condition materializes.

In the meantime, we should all keep abiding by the habits already acknowledged to promote a good night’s sleep, Dang-Vu says. “Avoid sources of stress when going to bed, preserve the bedroom environment for sleep and not for work, and avoid stimulation. Find ways to relax before going to sleep.”

Partners in research: Thanh Dang-Vu receives research support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQ-S), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Sleep Research Society Foundation (SRSF), the Fonds Québécois de Recherche sur le Vieillissement (RQRV), the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, and Concordia University. 

Read the cited study.