Wir überwinden Grenzen

Medical Center - University of Freiburg is looking for test subjects with insomnia to measure brain activity during sleep / Researchers hope to gain information about the connection between overstimulation in the brain and sleep

Around six to ten percent of the population in Germany suffer from chronic insomnia. They fall asleep more slowly, have more restless sleep and wake up earlier in the morning. Tiredness, concentration and performance problems are the result. A research group at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg has discovered, among other things, that people with chronic insomnia perceive their own sleep differently. The researchers assume that overexcitation caused by stress during the day alters the perception of sleep at night. In order to investigate this state of overexcitation, known as hyperaousal, the brain activity of people with sleep disorders is to be measured in a study. The scientists are now looking for test subjects between the ages of 30 and 60 with chronic sleep disorders who will be examined in the sleep laboratory for four nights. Participants must not have any other illnesses and must be fully able to hear. An expense allowance of 300 euros will be paid for participation in the study.

The study compares good sleepers and people with chronic insomnia. The first two nights in the sleep laboratory are used for extensive familiarization and diagnostics; on the third and fourth nights, the test sleepers are permanently exposed to soft sounds. "We want to find out whether the brain's response to weak stimuli is altered in people with sleep disorders and, in particular, whether this is associated with overstimulation of the brain," says Prof. Dr. Dieter Riemann, Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychophysiology at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Prof. Riemann and the team led by Dr. Bernd Feige, research group leader at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, hope that the study will provide further insights into the causes and new approaches for the treatment of people with insomnia.

In an earlier project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Freiburg scientists discovered that sleepers with increased hyperarousal are probably in a constant "watchful position", particularly during the REM sleep phase. The REM sleep phase is characterized, among other things, by rapid eye movements with the eyelids closed. The most frequent dreams take place during this phase. "The overexcitement and the resulting alert state lead to the REM sleep phase in particular being perceived more as a waking state," says Prof. Riemann. Accordingly, in a recently completed wake-up study, people with chronic insomnia were much more likely than good sleepers to believe that they were awake, even though researchers woke them up from REM sleep.

Since January 2017, the DFG has been funding the follow-up project with the current study for a further three years.

Contact for study participation:
Anna Heinrich
PhD student
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Medical Center - University of Freiburg
anna.heinrich@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Phone: 761 270-65800