The Importance of Sleep on Childhood Neurodevelopment



Badihian N¹ ; Kelishadi R¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Children and Sleep: Management, Health Effects and Gender Differences Published:2020

Abstract

Sleep is an essential time and process in human life. We spend almost one third of our life sleeping or trying to fall asleep. It is especially important when it comes to minors; about forty percent of the childhood period is spent in sleep. Intense brain activities that involve higher cortical functions and significant physiological activities occur during sleep. Therefore, it led some scientists to conclude that brain is more active during sleep compared to the wakeful state. Sleep is considered to have influential roles in neural plasticity, brain development, and skill learning during childhood. Moreover, it would affect capability of acquiring new skills and exploring the environment when facing a new situation. It is reported that one third of children experience some degrees of sleep disturbances. The circadian and homeostatic systems are both responsible for sleep regulation. Sleep duration, quality, timing, regularity, and absence of sleep disturbances are all important for the proper function of brain and body. The adequate duration of sleep varies between individuals; it is influenced by the complex interactions of genetic and environmental factors. But in general, the required duration of sleep is much longer in newborns, i.e., 12- 16 hours a day, and has a gradual decrease to 8-10 hours a day in teenagers. The proportion of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleeps are also affected by age because of the different functions of these states. While newborns have equal REM and non-REM duration, REM sleep would gradually decrease as the child grows up. Sleep problems diminish normal brain function and would result in short- and long-term adverse health effects. Inadequate sleep duration or quality during childhood might cause dysfunctions in the attention, behavior, cognition, and working memory, which in turn would cause hyperactivity and poor impulse control, decreased intellectual ability, and learning problems. It would further increase the risk of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and other psychological problems including depression. However, increased duration of daily sleep would also result in hypertension, diabetes, obesity and psychological disorders. Additionally, sleep disturbances can affect high level cognitive functions (e.g., abstract thinking and cognitive flexibility) and even might affect brain morphology in distinct regions. In this chapter, we aim to summarize the importance of healthy sleep cycle in normal brain development during childhood and the effects of sleep disturbances on normal brain function and brain structure. © 2020 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.