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Electrophysiological and microstructural features of sleep in children at high risk for depression: a preliminary

Gianluca Sesso1, Flora Bat-Pitault2, Aurore Guyon3

  • 1Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy; Department of Translational Research and of New Surgical and Medical Technologies, University of Pisa, Italy.

Sleep Medicine
|July 25, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Children born to mothers with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) show reduced sleep spindle activity and increased non-rapid eye movement sleep instability, suggesting potential cortical plasticity anomalies.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Maternal Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a significant risk factor for offspring mental health.
  • Sleep disturbances are common in children and can impact neurodevelopment.
  • Electrophysiological sleep features offer insights into brain function and plasticity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sleep electrophysiology and microstructure in children exposed to maternal MDD.
  • To compare sleep characteristics between high-risk (exposed to maternal MDD) and low-risk children.
  • To explore potential neurodevelopmental correlates of maternal depression.

Main Methods:

  • Polysomnography with three-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was conducted on 31 healthy children (4-18 years).
  • Participants were categorized into high-risk (n=20) and low-risk (n=11) groups based on maternal depression history.
  • Sleep microstructure (Cyclic Alternating Pattern - CAP), spectral analysis (EEG band power), and sleep electrophysiological features (spindles, slow waves) were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • High-risk children exhibited reduced low-frequency spindle activity.
  • Spatio-temporal characteristics of slow spindles were altered in the frontal and central regions for the high-risk group.
  • An altered distribution of CAP phase A subtypes (reduced A1 over A2-3 ratio) indicated increased sleep instability.

Conclusions:

  • Children born to mothers with MDD demonstrated reduced sleep spindle generation.
  • Increased non-rapid eye movement sleep instability was observed in the high-risk group.
  • These findings may suggest functional anomalies in cortical plasticity, potentially contributing to or reflecting MDD pathogenesis.
Abstract

Keywords:
ChildrenCyclic alternating patternDepressionSleepSpindles

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