Media advice
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
What
A large-scale study of children has shown that behavioral problems in snoring children may be related to changes in the structure of the frontal lobe of their brain. The findings support an early evaluation of children who snore regularly (snoring three or more nights a week). The research, published in Nature Communications, was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and nine other institutes, centers and offices of the National Institutes of Health.
Large population studies have shown a clear link between snoring and behavioral problems, such as inattention or hyperactivity, but the exact nature of this relationship is not fully understood. While a few small studies have reported a link between sleep apnea – when breathing pauses are prolonged – and certain brain changes, little is known about whether these changes contribute to the behaviors seen in some children with breathing obstructive sleep disorders (oSDB) , a group of conditions commonly associated with snoring and characterized by resistance to breathing during sleep.
To close this knowledge gap, researchers led by Amal Isaiah, MD, D.Phil., Of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, took advantage of the large and diverse dataset of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a long- term study of child health and brain development in the United States. The team of researchers collected this wealth of data from more than 11,000 9- and 10-year-old children to investigate the relationships between snoring, brain structure and behavioral problems.
Their statistical analysis confirmed the results of previous work and revealed a positive correlation between habitual snoring and behavioral problems, with the children who snore most often exhibited worse behavior overall according to a parental review. The findings further showed that snoring is associated with smaller volumes of multiple regions of the brain’s frontal lobe, an area involved in cognitive functions such as problem solving, impulse control, and social interactions. The statistical analysis also suggested that the brain differences seen in children who snore may contribute to behavioral problems, but additional research is needed on how snoring, brain structure, and behavioral problems change over time to establish a causal relationship. confirm.
The findings of this study point to oSDB as a possible reversible cause of behavioral problems, suggesting that children are routinely screened for snoring. Children who usually snore can then be referred for follow-up care. Such care may include assessment and treatment for conditions contributing to oSDB, such as obesity, or evaluation for surgical removal of the adenoids and tonsils.
The ABCD study, the largest of its kind in the United States, follows nearly 12,000 young people as they grow into young adults. Researchers regularly measure participants’ brain structure and activity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines and collect psychological, environmental and cognitive information, as well as biological samples. The aim of the study is to define norms for normal brain and cognitive development and to identify factors that can enhance or disrupt a young person’s life trajectory.
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study and ABCD Study are service marks and registered trademarks of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, respectively.
Article
Isaiah A, et alAssociations between frontal lobe structure, parental reported obstructive respiratory sleep disorders, and childhood behaviors in the ABCD dataset. Nature Communications DOI: 10.15154 / 1520518 (2021).
WHO
Gayathri J. Dowling, Ph.D., director of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, at NIDA is available for interviews.
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is part of the National Institutes of Health, the United States Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the global research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The institute runs a wide variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. For more information about NIDA and its programs, visit www.drugabuse.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the national medical research agency, includes 27 institutes and centers and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the premier federal agency that conducts and supports basic, clinical, and translational medical research, investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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