Anthony Carboni of DNews reports on a recent study conducted by Johns Hopkins University. The study found that insomniacs have increased brain plasticity in the motor cortex of their brains and greater situational adaptability in comparison to those who did not have insomnia.
Salas and her team, reporting in the March issue of the journal Sleep, found that the motor cortex in those with chronic insomnia was more adaptable to change – more plastic – than in a group of good sleepers. They also found more “excitability” among neurons in the same region of the brain among those with chronic insomnia, adding evidence to the notion that insomniacs are in a constant state of heightened information processing that may interfere with sleep.
