Abstract
Background It is well known that vibratory and auditory stimuli from vehicles such as cars and trains can help induce sleep. More recent literature suggests that specific types of vibratory and acoustic stimulation might help promote sleep, but this has not been tested with neuroimaging. Thus, the purpose of this study was to observe the effects of vibroacoustic stimulation (providing both vibratory and auditory stimuli) on functional connectivity changes in the brain using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and compare these changes to improvements in sleep in patients with insomnia. Methods For this study, 30 patients with insomnia were randomly assigned to receive one month of a vibroacoustic stimulation or be placed in a waitlist control. Patients were evaluated pre- and postprogram with qualitative sleep questionnaires and measurement of sleep duration with an actigraphy watch. In addition, patients underwent rs-fMRI to assess functional connectivity. Results The results demonstrated that those patients receiving the vibroacoustic stimulation had significant improvements in measured sleep minutes as well as in scores on the Insomnia Severity Index questionnaire. In addition, significant changes were noted in functional connectivity in association with the vermis, cerebellar hemispheres, thalamus, sensorimotor area, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex. Conclusions The results of this study show that vibroacoustic stimulation alters the brain's functional connectivity as well as improves sleep in patients with insomnia.
Highlights
Insomnia is a major, chronic problem affecting up to 30% of all people and causing significant loss of function and productivity [1, 2]
There was no significant difference between Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores of the two groups at baseline (p = 0:62); there was a significant difference in minutes slept (p = 0:02)
There were significant improvements in the ISI score in those subjects undergoing the vibroacoustic stimulation compared to the controls
Summary
Chronic problem affecting up to 30% of all people and causing significant loss of function and productivity [1, 2]. Impaired sleep quality or quantity, insomnia, may be caused by neurophysiological changes such as alterations in neuronal communication between structures such as the thalamus and various cortical regions [6], and that may be reflected in functional neuroimaging, though this is an underinvestigated area. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of vibroacoustic stimulation (providing both vibratory and auditory stimuli) on functional connectivity changes in the brain using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and compare these changes to improvements in sleep in patients with insomnia. The results demonstrated that those patients receiving the vibroacoustic stimulation had significant improvements in measured sleep minutes as well as in scores on the Insomnia Severity Index questionnaire. The results of this study show that vibroacoustic stimulation alters the brain’s functional connectivity as well as improves sleep in patients with insomnia
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