Sleep Disturbances Increase the Impact of Working Memory Deficits on Learning Problems in Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Calhoun, Susan L.; Pearl, Amanda; Fernández-Mendoza, Julio; Durica, Krina C.; Mayes, Susan Dickerson; Murray, Michael J.

doi:10.1007/s10803-019-03928-y

Cited by 26 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Additionally, children with autism who slept longer performed better on the test of working memory. This is supported by work by Calhoun and colleagues [ 22 ] where, in a sample of adolescents with autism ( n = 96), digit span tests and actigraphy revealed that poorer working memory was linearly related to increased sleep disturbances. In the FASD sample, however, the only sleep parameter to be associated with working memory was bedtime: the later the child’s bedtime, the longer the digit span.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Working memory in autism tends to be more compromised when serial recall carries specific meaning (such as lexical and semantic meaning) which may be difficult for an individual with autism to decipher. In some domains, individuals with autism may be compensating and recalling at the same rate as typical individuals, whilst others consistently score lower than typical controls [ 21 , 22 ]. Children with autism can show diminished attentional capacity in some instances [ 23 , 24 ], but enhanced attentional ability in other instances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sleep and Cognition in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Mughal¹,

Hill

Joyce

et al. 2020

Brain Sciences

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Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience significantly higher rates of sleep disturbances than their typically developing peers. However, little is known about the association between sleep and the cognitive phenotype in these clinical populations. Structural damage affecting cortical and subcortical connectivity occurs as a result of prenatal alcohol exposure in children with FASD, whilst it is believed an abundance of short-range connectivity explains the phenotypic manifestations of childhood ASD. These underlying neural structural and connectivity differences manifest as cognitive patterns, with some shared and some unique characteristics between FASD and ASD. This is the first study to examine sleep and its association with cognition in individuals with FASD, and to compare sleep in individuals with FASD and ASD. We assessed children aged 6–12 years with a diagnosis of FASD (n = 29), ASD (n = 21), and Typically Developing (TD) children (n = 46) using actigraphy (CamNTech Actiwatch 8), digit span tests of working memory (Weschler Intelligence Scale), tests of nonverbal mental age (MA; Ravens Standard Progressive Matrices), receptive vocabulary (British Picture Vocabulary Scale), and a choice reaction time (CRT) task. Children with FASD and ASD presented with significantly shorter total sleep duration, lower sleep efficiency, and more nocturnal wakings than their TD peers. Sleep was significantly associated with scores on the cognitive tests in all three groups. Our findings support the growing body of work asserting that sleep is significant to cognitive functioning in these neurodevelopmental conditions; however, more research is needed to determine cause and effect.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep and Cognition in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Mughal¹,

Hill

Joyce

et al. 2020

Brain Sciences

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“…The subtests Digit Span Forward (DSF) and Digit Span Backward (DSB) were included. While DSF involves listening to and repeating sequences of numbers in the same order, DSB requires listening to and repeating sequences of numbers in the reverse order, with comparable instructions between the WISC-IV, WISC-V, and WAIS-IV versions (Wechsler, 2003(Wechsler, , 2014Calhoun et al, 2019). Norm-referenced scaled scores (M = 10, SD = 3) for the total number of correctly repeated sequences were used as an outcome measure, with higher scores reflecting a better performance.…”

Section: Wechsler Digit Span Forward and Backwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep Disturbance and Its Association With Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and Attention in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors

et al. 2022

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BackgroundPediatric brain tumor (PBT) survivors are at risk for developing sleep disturbances. While in other pediatric populations sleep disturbance has been associated with worse cognitive functioning, it is unclear to what extent this relationship generalizes to PBT survivors. The aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between sleep disturbance and aspects of cognition, including sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) as well as attention and working memory.Materials and MethodsEighty-three PBT survivors 6–18 years of age who were at least 3 months post-treatment were included in the present cross-sectional study. Level of sleep disturbance was measured as a composite score reflecting various sleep problems as rated by caregivers. Cognitive measures included caregiver-ratings of sluggish cognitive tempo and attention problems, as well as performance-based cognitive measures assessing attention and executive functioning. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to assess associations between sleep and cognition.ResultsOf all caregivers, 32.5% reported one or more sleep disturbances as “very/often true” and over 68% of caregivers rated at least one sleep-related item as “somewhat true.” Of all cognitive variables, scores were most frequently impaired for SCT (30%). A higher level of sleep disturbance was associated with worse SCT and parent-rated attention problems. Associations between sleep and performance-based cognitive measures assessing attention and working memory were not statistically significant.ConclusionFindings of the current study highlight the importance of further investigation into the relationship between sleep and cognition in PBT survivors, which may assist efforts to maximize cognitive outcome and health-related quality of life in PBT survivors. The current study additionally suggests further investigation of SCT in this population is warranted, as it may be more sensitive to detecting possible associations with sleep disturbance relative to discrete measures that assess cognitive performance under ideal circumstances.

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“…Children with ASD have a higher occurrence of sleep disorders, anxiety, and emotional regulation difficulties than their TD peers [ 28 ], which is associated with cognition and affect in this population [ 29 ]. Insomnia, parasomnias, and disrupted sleep are significantly higher in ASD [ 30 ] and significantly associated with hyperactivity, aggression [ 31 ], affect [ 32 ] behavioural and social adaptive difficulties [ 33 ], cognition [ 34 ], communication difficulties [ 35 ], and academic performance [ 36 ]. However, the phenotypic presentation of nightmares in this population is less clear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nightmares in Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Their Typically Developing Peers

et al. 2021

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Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience significantly higher rates of sleep disturbances than their typically developing (TD) peers. Pre-sleep anxiety and waking emotional content is known to affect the content and frequency of nightmares, which can be distressing to children and caregivers. This is the first study to analyse nightmare frequency and content in FASD, and to assess its association with psychometric outcomes. Using online caregiver questionnaires, we assessed reports from 277 caregivers of children with ASD (n = 61), FASD (n = 112), and TD children (n = 104) using the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and the Behaviour Rating Inventory for Executive Functioning (BRIEF). Within the ASD group, 40.3% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares. Within the FASD group, 73.62% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares, and within the TD group, 21.36% of caregivers reported their children had nightmares. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between anxiety and nightmares, maladaptive behaviour and nightmares, and executive functioning and nightmares in the TD and FASD groups, but not ASD group. This paper adds to the emerging body of work supporting the need for sleep interventions as part of clinical practice with regard to children with ASD and FASD. As a relatively niche but important area of study, this warrants much needed further research.

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Sleep Disturbances Increase the Impact of Working Memory Deficits on Learning Problems in Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Cited by 26 publications

References 90 publications

Sleep and Cognition in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Sleep and Cognition in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Sleep Disturbance and Its Association With Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and Attention in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors

Nightmares in Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Their Typically Developing Peers

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