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- Dutch scientists have compared brain tests of people evoking shameful experiences.
- Insomnia can not neutralize painful memories either.
- The anterior cingulate cortex is the part of the brain related to insomnia.
New research from scientists at the Dutch Institute of Neuroscience has highlighted the underlying cause of insomnia – a sleep disorder affecting up to half of adults at one time. People suffering from insomnia are unable to solve their experiences as neutralized memories, while good sleepers have no problem doing so.
The experiment was to have 57 Dutch participants aged 18 to 70 experience shameful experiences while their brains were undergoing MRI badysis. The memories were supposed to be from decades ago.
Analyzes of the brain showed that participants who slept well were able to turn shameful experiences into neutralized memories. Insomniacs, on the other hand, struggled to achieve the same neutralization of emotional disturbances.
This discovery corresponds to what we already know about the purpose of sleep. The time has come for us to consolidate the memories of important experiences, but also to deal with the emotionally painful aspects of such memories. During sleep, the connections between brain cells are either strengthened or weakened, consolidating or suppressing memories. Those who are able to do such mental treatment without difficulty sleep better.
Interestingly, the study draws on previous research from the same team, where the shame invoked was to have subjects listen to their karaoke recordings. These had been done before without telling the subjects what they were intended for, while they had to wear headphones, which made their singing even more difficult.
Brain / Netherland Institute for Neuroscience.
Responses to new and reviving experiences among good sleepers vs. insomniacs.
The study adds to the growing amount of evidence that insomnia risk genes are particularly related to limbic circuits of the brain. More specifically – the anterior cystic cortex (ACC), known to regulate emotions. Researchers implicate this region in "insufficient long-term adaptation to emotional memory" in people with insomnia. Without sleeping well, the events that occurred several decades ago trigger emotional circuits as they unfolded now.
The findings also relate to the fact that insomnia is a leading risk factor leading to mood disorders, anxiety and PTSD.
You can read the study, led by Rick Wbading, Frans Schalkwijk and Eus van Someren in the scientific journal Brain.
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