Amygdala Changes in Chronic Insomnia and Their Association with Sleep and Anxiety Symptoms: Insight from Shape Analysis

Abstract

Affective disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are common comorbidities associated with chronic insomnia disorder (CID). However, the underlying neural mechanisms of these comorbidities are still not clear. The present study is aimed at investigating structural changes in the amygdala of CID patients using surface-based shape analysis. A total of 65 medication-naive patients with CID and 55 healthy controls (HCs) matched for age, sex, and years of education were enrolled in this study and were subjected to structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB) created an Integrated Registration and Segmentation Tool (FIRST) that was employed in this study to assess the volumetric and surface alterations in patients with CID. Shape correlations between the amygdala and clinical features were also analyzed. Atrophic changes in the amygdala were observed at the local level, not for the entire amygdala volume. The left atrophic changes in the amygdala were in the superficial and basolateral nuclei while right atrophic changes were in the basolateral nuclei in CID patients. Insomnia severity was associated with the centromedial right amygdala while anxiety was linked with the basolateral nuclei. These findings indicate localized amygdala atrophy in CID. Separate amygdala regions are associated with insomnia and anxiety in CID. This evidence helps elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the bidirectional relationship between insomnia and anxiety.