Insomnia severity is associated with a decreased volume of the CA3/dentate gyrus hippocampal subfield.
BACKGROUND
Prolonged disruption of sleep in animal studies is associated with decreased neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Our objective was to determine whether insomnia severity in a sample of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients and control subjects was associated with decreased volume in the CA3/dentate hippocampal subfield.


METHODS
Volumes of hippocampal subfields in 17 veteran men positive for PTSD (41 +/- 12 years) and 19 age-matched male veterans negative for PTSD were measured with 4-T magnetic resonance imaging. Subjective sleep quality was measured by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.


RESULTS
Higher scores on the ISI, indicating worse insomnia, were associated with smaller volumes of the CA3/dentate subfields (r = -.48, p < .01) in the combined sample. Adding the ISI score as a predictor for CA3/dentate volume to a hierarchical linear regression model after first controlling for age and PTSD symptoms accounted for a 13% increase in incremental variance (t = -2.47, p = .02).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings indicate for the first time in humans that insomnia severity is associated with volume loss of the CA3/dentate subfields. This is consistent with animal studies showing that chronic sleep disruption is associated with decreased neurogenesis and dendritic branching in these structures.
Neylan
Thomas C
TC
Mental Health Service, DVA Medical Center, San Francisco, California 94121, USA. Thomas.Neylan@ucsf.edu
Mueller
Susanne G
SG
Wang
Zhen
Z
Metzler
Thomas J
TJ
Lenoci
Maryann
M
Truran
Diana
D
Marmar
Charles R
CR
Weiner
Michael W
MW
Schuff
Norbert
N
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology