Correlations between sleep disturbance and brain cortical morphometry in healthy children

Sleep Science and Practice

Caroline E. Baldwin¹  Thomas M. Badger²  Linda J. Larson-Prior³  Xiaoxu Na⁴  Xiawei Ou⁵  Ting Li⁶ 

[1] Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Little Rock, AR, USA;Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA;Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Neurology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 1 Children’s Way, Slot 105, 72202, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 1 Children’s Way, Slot 105, 72202, Little Rock, AR, USA;Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 1 Children’s Way, Slot 105, 72202, Little Rock, AR, USA;Department of Information Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR, USA;

关键词: Sleep disturbance;    Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire;    Gray matter volume;    Cortical surface area;    Cortical thickness;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41606-021-00068-0

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWhile the importance of adequate sleep duration to normal brain development is well known, more studies are needed to characterize how undiagnosed sleep disturbance other than suboptimal sleep duration may impact brain development. In this study we aim to understand the relationships between sleep disturbance measures and cortical morphometry in typically-developing children without previous diagnoses of sleep pathology.MethodsHealthy 8-year-old children (30 boys, 37 girls) without clinical diagnosis of sleep disorders were prospectively recruited for brain MRI and their parents completed the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Total sleep disturbance score, as well as 8 subscales including bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep duration, sleep anxiety, night waking, parasomnias, sleep disordered breathing, and daytime sleepiness were calculated, and their relationships with cortical morphometry features including cortical gray matter volume, cortical thickness, and surface area were investigated, controlled for total cortical volume and sex.ResultsThe CSHQ total sleep disturbance score significantly correlated with cortical surface area in a cluster in the left middle temporal gyrus (P < 0.001, R = -0.54). In addition, the bedtime resistance subscale negatively correlated with cortical surface area in a cluster in the right fusiform gyrus (P < 0.001, R = -0.50). No other clusters showed significant relationships between CSHQ total score or subscales and cortical features for this cohort.ConclusionSignificant relationships between sleep disturbance scores in typically-developing children without clinical diagnosis of sleep pathology and their brain cortical surface area in two temporal lobe regions were identified, suggesting that undiagnosed sleep disturbance may potentially impact brain development even in healthy children.

【 授权许可】

CC BY