Sleep Problems and Thalamic Size

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/8914



Positive relationship between sleep
problems and thalamic size in patients
with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome


Source: American Psychosomatic Society 65th
Annual Meeting, May 2007


by T Lutgert, et al.

ImmuneSupport.com

06-09-2008


[Note: The thalamus is a right and left pair of brain
structures.]


Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by
disabling fatigue of unknown etiology. Sleep quality
is poor in CFS patients. The thalamus is a key
subcortical structure in sleep disorders and certain
cognitive functions previously shown to be impaired
in CFS patients. We investigated the association
between subjective sleep quality and thalamic size
in CFS.


Twelve right-handed otherwise healthy CFS patients
[patients] and 12 age-, gender-, and handedness-
matched healthy controls completed the Jenkins
Sleep Questionnaire summing up responses on four
items asking for

a) difficulty in initiating sleep,
b) awakening during the night,
c) awakening during sleep with difficulty maintaining
     sleep, and
d) awakening exhausted in the morning despite
     having slept as usual.


Thalamic size was determined by MR-based
volumetry.


Logistic regression revealed that sleep problems
significantly predicted CFS status (OR = 2.66, 95%
CI 1.11-6.38), whereas total thalamic volume and
thalamic size of either side did not.


More sleep problems correlated with greater total
thalamic volume in patients (r=0.62, 95% CI
0.07-0.88, p=0.032) but not in controls (r=-.034,
p=0.30).


In addition, more sleep problems also correlated with
right thalamic size in patients (r=0.70, 95% CI
0.21-0.91, p=0.012) but not in controls (r=-.080,
p=0.81).


The strength of correlations between sleep problems
and total thalamic volume (p=0.028) and right
thalamic volume (p=0.046), respectively, differed
between patients and controls.


We found a positive relationship between more sleep
problems and thalamic volume in CFS patients
compared to non-CFS controls.


The finding provides a basis for further studies on a
possible role of the thalamus in sleep complaints
and fatigue of patients with CFS.

Source: Abstract 1664 from American Psychosomatic
Society 65th Annual Meeting, Budapest, Hungary May
7-10, 2007. (From a pdf of all abstracts, only some
of which have been published, at
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/misc/2007APSabstractsforjournal.pdf ,
by Lutgert T, von Kanel R, Remonda L, Wiest R,
Kiefer C, Begre S. Departments of General Internal
Medicine, Neuroradiology and General Internal
Medicine, University Hospital, Berne, Switzerland.