ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Sleep Disorders
Study on Brain Functional Networks and Cortical Morphological Structures in Patients with Primary Insomnia
Xiaoyue Jin 1,2,3
Xiaoyang Wang 3,2
Kuihua Wang 3,2
Yuning Lin 4
Xiaoling Duan 3,2
Shangwen Xu 3,2
Xiaoping Cui 3,2
Hui Li 3,2
1. Xiamen Xianyue Hospital, Xiamen, China
2. Fuzong Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
3. 900th Hospital of the People's Liberation Army Joint Logistic Support Force, Fuzhou, China
4. The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China
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Abstract
Summary: The prevalence of primary insomnia (PI) has been increasing year by year. This study aims to explore its neurobiological mechanisms and provide neuroimaging evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment. A total of 33 patients with PI and 25 healthy controls were recruited. All participants completed assessments of sleep status, cognitive function, and evaluations using neuropsychological scales. Voxel-based degree centrality (DC) analysis was used to identify abnormal functional network hubs, and differentially activated brain regions were further used as seed points for whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Surface-based morphometry (SBM) was employed to analyze cortical morphological parameters. Additionally, DC values, FC values, and cortical morphological parameters of the differentially activated brain regions were extracted from the PI group for the differentially activated brain regions, and further correlation analyses were performed with neuropsychological scale scores. Results showed that in patients with PI, the DC of the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus was increased, while the DC of brain regions related to the right parietal lobe was decreased; FC was reduced in some brain regions; the cortex of the left frontoparietal region was thinner with an elevated gyrification index (GI); and the fractal dimension (FD) of the right parieto-occipital cortex/left occipital cortex was decreased. PI patients show abnormal functional hubs (posterior DMN, CEN parietal lobe), reduced FC (CEN-right cerebellum, posterior DMN-occipital lobe), and cortical morphological changes (left frontoparietal thinning, etc.). These neuroimaging indices are correlated with patients' cognitive function, sleep quality, and depressive status, which can provide a basis for mechanistic research and clinical diagnosis of PI.
Summary
Keywords
central executive network, Default Mode Network, hyperarousal, Primary insomnia, Surface-based morphometry, Voxel-wise degree centrality
Received
17 December 2025
Accepted
12 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Jin, Wang, Wang, Lin, Duan, Xu, Cui and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Xiaoping Cui; Hui Li
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