WASHINGTON 鈥� People with insomnia might be getting more sleep than they realize.
Studies suggest insomniacs鈥� perception of wakefulness might be skewed because their brains are very active. Sleep researchers tell that people with insomnia are more likely than normal sleepers to聽underestimate total sleep time by more than an hour on any given night.
Studies show two ways the brains of people with insomnia聽appear more active than those of normal sleepers: Sleeping insomniacs display high-frequency brain waves that typically are associated with being awake and processing information. And聽parts聽of the brain people use when being contemplative and reflective聽are more active in people with insomnia when they’re asleep than聽in normal sleepers.
Those findings may lead to alternative chronic insomnia treatments聽that target overactive brain regions, The Wall Street Journal reports.
A few ideas include mindfulness meditation and transcranial magnetic stimulation,聽which currently is used to treat depression and anxiety.
Experts recommend people get at least seven hours of sleep a night. So, study findings suggest some insomniacs might actually be getting聽enough sleep to be聽useful聽even if they don’t realize it.
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report.
