Correlations between sleep disturbance and brain cortical morphometry in healthy children

Abstract

Background While 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. Methods Healthy 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. Results The 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. Conclusion Significant 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.

Socioeconomic disparities in sleep duration are associated with cortical thickness in children

“…Shorter weekday sleep duration was associated with reduced thickness in the left middle temporal gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, and right postcentral gyrus in children. These results are consistent with previous findings linking sleep disruption, including shorter sleep durations, with reduced gray matter in frontal, temporal, and parietal regions in children and adolescents (Cheng et al., 2021 ; Isaiah et al., 2021 ; Jalbrzikowski et al., 2021 ; Kocevska et al., 2017 ; Na et al., 2021 ; Sung et al., 2020 ; Urrila et al., 2017 ). The left middle temporal gyrus plays a critical role in language processing, including word processing and semantics (Papeo et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Some previous studies have focused on cortical volume (Sung et al., 2020 ; Urrila et al., 2017 ), a composite of SA and CT, which have been documented as genetically and developmentally distinct (Panizzon et al., 2009 ; Raznahan et al., 2011 ). In other studies, SA and CT have been analyzed separately (Cheng et al., 2021 ; Isaiah et al., 2021 ; Jalbrzikowski et al., 2021 ; Kocevska et al., 2017 ; Na et al., 2021 ). In the current study, sleep duration was significantly associated with CT but not SA, consistent with some previous studies (Isaiah et al., 2021 ; Jalbrzikowski et al., 2021 ; Kocevska et al., 2017 ) but not others (Cheng et al., 2020; Na et al., 2021 ).…”

“…In other studies, SA and CT have been analyzed separately (Cheng et al., 2021 ; Isaiah et al., 2021 ; Jalbrzikowski et al., 2021 ; Kocevska et al., 2017 ; Na et al., 2021 ). In the current study, sleep duration was significantly associated with CT but not SA, consistent with some previous studies (Isaiah et al., 2021 ; Jalbrzikowski et al., 2021 ; Kocevska et al., 2017 ) but not others (Cheng et al., 2020; Na et al., 2021 ). More work is needed to understand the differential associations of sleep duration with CT and SA in children.…”

“…For example, in one large‐scale study, shorter parent‐reported sleep durations were linked with lower cortical surface area (SA) and volume in frontal, temporal, and parietal cortical regions in 9‐ to 11‐year‐olds (Cheng et al., 2021 ). In other studies, greater parent‐reported total sleep disturbances (e.g., bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, short sleep duration, sleep anxiety, nighttime awakenings, daytime sleepiness) were associated with smaller volumes and reduced cortical thickness (CT) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex at 7 years of age (Kocevska et al., 2017 ) and with reduced SA in the left middle temporal gyrus in 7‐ to 8‐year‐old children (Na et al., 2021 ).…”

Cortical Grey Matter Changes, Behavior and Cognition in Children with Sleep Disordered Breathing

“…Several neuroimaging studies have utilized volumetric analyses to identify regional alterations occurring in pediatric SDB (Chan et al, 2014;Macey et al, 2018;Musso et al, 2020;Na et al, 2021;Philby et al, 2017). These studies have presented a wide-spread pattern of cortical injury with reports of reduced grey matter in the frontal (Chan et al, 2014;Musso et al, 2020;Philby et al, 2017), temporal, (Chan et al, 2014;Na et al, 2021;Philby et al, 2017), occipital (Musso et al, 2020), and parietal cortices (Philby et al, 2017) as well as subcortical regions such as the brain stem (Philby et al, 2017), thalamus, ventral posterior nucleus and medial dorsal nucleus (Lv et al, 2017). Additionally, individuals with moderate-severe OSA are particularly susceptible to neuropathological changes (Chan et al, 2014).…”