Here in the middle of a city summer, it's pretty darn hot. And that can make getting a good night's sleep pretty tough.

Air conditioning and a fan pointed at the bed are helpful--but what if it's not just the outside heat that's keeping you up?

For some people with sleep problems, the issue could be the heat in your brain.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine recently presented their research on the relationship between brain heat and insomnia to the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Previous research had already shown that insomniacs have increased levels of activity in the frontal lobes of their brains. During waking hours, the brain runs pretty hot, doing all of its work to get you through your day. If it keeps the temperature up at night, it could make sleeping more difficult.

Their solution? Give insomniacs caps with cool water circulating inside. Wearing the caps, participants in the study fell asleep in around 13 minutes (healthy control patients fell asleep in about 16 minutes) and slept for 89 percent of the time they were in bed (around the same amount of time as the healthy control patients).

Now, from what I can tell, there aren't such cooling caps available on the market. But that doesn't mean you can't take advantage of a low-tech version.

You could try wrapping an ice pack in a towel and placing the wrapped pack on the back of your neck. This can help cool the spinal fluid, which circulates around the brain. It's also more likely to stay put than if you put the pack on your forehead.

When you suffer from insomnia, a doctor is likely to prescribe drugs to help you sleep. But why deal with the side effects when it could be a matter of simply keeping things cool?

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