Disrupted white matter microstructure in insomnia disorder: a diffusion kurtosis imaging study
Ting Chen1, Yanxia Wen2, Chunxue Ye2
1Research Center of Dermatology and Venereal Diseases, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, 443000, China; Chongqing Western Hospital, Chongqing, 400052, China.
Sleep Medicine
|October 25, 2025
Summary
Insomnia disorder is linked to white matter microstructural disintegration, particularly in emotion and arousal networks. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) shows promise in detecting early changes in these brain pathways.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- Insomnia disorder (ID) is associated with neurocognitive deficits.
- The specific white matter abnormalities and their mechanisms in ID are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate white matter microstructural integrity in insomnia disorder patients using Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (DKI).
- To explore the relationship between white matter changes and insomnia duration.
Main Methods:
- Compared white matter integrity in 30 ID patients and 30 healthy controls using DKI and tract-based spatial statistics.
- Analyzed diffusion kurtosis and tensor parameters to assess microstructural complexity and directional coherence.
Main Results:
- ID patients showed reduced radial kurtosis (RK) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in key white matter tracts.
- Decreases in RK and FA correlated negatively with insomnia duration, suggesting progressive degeneration.
- DKI parameters, especially RK, were more sensitive to early pathological changes than conventional metrics.
Conclusions:
- Insomnia disorder is associated with microstructural disintegration in emotion- and arousal-modulating white matter networks.
- DKI shows potential as a sensitive biomarker for monitoring insomnia-related neuropathology and disease progression.
- Larger, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings.
