The study, authored by Christine N. Osborne, of the University of Louisville, focused on 29 children between four and eight years of age, who underwent a one-night polysomnographic screening to rule out pre-existing sleep abnormalities. Subsequently, all children maintained their normal sleep schedule for one week. Children with the least variability in sleep time were assigned to one group while those with the most variability were placed in a second group for analysis purposes. During an auditory oddball paradigm task, children were asked to attend to frequently and infrequently occurring tones.
According to the results, the brain responses recorded over the frontal and parietal lobes of children with low sleep variability were better able to discriminate between frequent and infrequent tones.
“Little research has investigated the role of consistent sleep/wake cycles in children,” said Osborne. “The results of this study suggest a difference in brain organization for those children who get a consistent amount of sleep during a week compared to those who fluctuate in the amount of sleep they receive.”-American Academy of Sleep Medicine
