Altered Regional Cerebral Blood Flow Associated with Mood and Sleep in Shift Workers: Cerebral Perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Background And Purpose: Shift work disrupts the body's circadian rhythms and increases the risk of health problems. Despite evidence of neuropsychological disturbances in shift workers (SW), the brain functional status as measured by brain perfusion in chronic shift work has not been evaluated previously. We investigated the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in SW using perfusion MRI (pMRI) and evaluated the relationships between altered rCBF and sleep, mood, psychometric measures, and quality of life.

Methods: Fifteen rotational SW and 15 day workers (DW) were enrolled. The participants were all female nurses working at a university-affiliated hospital. During 2 weeks of actigraphy they underwent pMRI scanning and psychometric testing on the last day immediately after working. Demographic characteristics, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and mood were compared between the groups.

Results: The participants were aged 35.3±2.9 years (mean±SD) and had been performing their current work for more than 2 years. The demographic characteristics did not differ between SW and DW, but the levels of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity-restlessness in psychometric measures were higher in SW than in DW. Cerebral perfusion in SW was significantly decreased in the cuneus, fusiform/parahippocampal gyri, and cerebellum of the right hemisphere, while it was increased in the inferior occipital gyrus of the left hemisphere. Perfusion changes in SW were significantly correlated with depression and insomnia severity. The onset and duration irregularity of sleep among SW were related to insomnia, mood, hyperactivity/ restlessness, and quality of life.

Conclusions: SW experience considerably more insomnia and mood disturbances than do DW, and this is significantly related to perfusion changes in multiple brain areas.