University of Pittsburgh researchers report that, in a study of
12 people with primary insomnia (sleeplessness with no other
known cause, such as anxiety or depression), those whose brains
were kept the coolest by experimental caps slept just as deeply
as members of a control group of sound sleepers. The soft
plastic caps, which have water circulating through them, cool an
area of the brain behind the forehead called the frontal cortex,
authors Eric Nofzinger, M.D. and Daniel Buysse, M.D., explained
in research presented at the SLEEP 2011 conference in June. This
brain region, involved in reasoning and problem solving, remains
more active in people with primary insomnia, studies have shown.
The cooling treatment lowers its metabolism, allowing people to
fall asleep more quickly and to sleep more soundly, they said.
Nofzinger has applied to patent the technique. One key finding:
Sleep improved in proportion to how much a person's brain was
cooled. And the fact that researchers could see changes — the
cooler th