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The following is a summary of “Restoration of abnormal sleep EEG power in patients with insomnia disorder after 1Hz rTMS over left DLPFC,” published in the September 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Zhao et al.

Hyperarousal is a significant theory behind insomnia disorder (ID), where there is too much brain activity and abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) readings during the day or sleep. However, not much focus has been given to EEG during rapid eye movement (REM) and different non-REM (NREM) stages.

Research conducted a retrospective study exploring whether abnormal EEG patterns in patients with ID can be improved using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). 

They included data from 26 individuals with ID and 26 healthy controls. Researchers compared EEG power across sleep stages and bands at baseline, examined patient changes before and after rTMS, and explored correlations between EEG power and patients’ behavioral measures. 

The results showed that patients showed abnormal EEG relative power in the delta, beta, and gamma bands during NREM2, NREM3, and REM sleep. Correlations were found between relative power and behavioral measures like sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency, and depression scores. After treatment, improvements in delta and beta bands were seen during NREM2 sleep.

Investigators concluded that sleep EEG power in patients with ID significantly correlates with sleep measures and differs from healthy controls in the delta, beta, and gamma bands. rTMS treatment may help improve some of these EEG abnormalities.

Source: frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1431837/full