I
want to share very interesting findings about strong correlation between healthy
breathing, academic performance, behavior, attention and executive function.
There is clear evidence
for poorer academic performance in school-age children with Sleep Disorder
Breathing (SDB)
Children and adults with
sleep disorders were at a higher risk for language problems than healthy
sleepers. The language problems typically co-occurred with problems of
attention and executive function (in children and adults), behavior (in
children), and visual-spatial processing (in adults). Effects were typically
small. Language problems seldom rose to a level of clinical concern but there
were exceptions involving phonological deficits in children with
sleep-disordered breathing and verbal memory deficits among adults with
sleep-disordered breathing or idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder.
Findings
from “Airway function disorders can interfere with language, learning and
academics,
Children with fragmented
sleep were characterized by lower performance on NBF measures, particularly
those associated with more complex tasks such as a continuous performance test
and a symbol-digit substitution test. These children also had higher rates of
behavior problems as reported by their parents on the Child Behavior Checklist.
These results highlight the association between sleep quality, NBF, and
behavior regulation in child development; and raise important questions about
the origins of these associations and their developmental and clinical
significance.
Findings
from “Sleep, Neurobehavioral Functioning, and Behavior Problems in School-Age
Children” by Avi Sadeh, Reut Gruber, Amiram Raviv
Sleep-related obstructive
breathing disorders (SROBD) are common in children. While the sequelae of cor
pulmonae, and growth and developmental impairment have been well documented,
neurocognitive deficits have been less well studied. There is emerging evidence
that children with SROBD show reduced neurocognitive functioning especially in
the inter-related areas of attentional capacity, memory and cognitive function.
In addition, these children show increased problematic behaviour and reduced
school performance.
Findings
from “Cognitive and behavioural performance in children with sleep-related
obstructive breathing disorders” by S. Blunden, K. Lushington, D. Kennedy
