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Measuring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation During Naps in Early Childhood
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Sleepiness, Neuropsychological Skills, and Scholastic Learning in Children

Luigi Macchitella1, Chiara Valeria Marinelli1, Fulvio Signore1

  • 1Department of History, Society and Human Studies, Lab of Applied Psychology and Intervention, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy.

Brain Sciences
|August 14, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Excessive daytime sleepiness in children impacts verbal abilities and complex cognitive functions like reading and math. However, visuospatial skills remain unaffected by this common childhood condition.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Psychology

Background:

  • Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is prevalent in children and adolescents.
  • EDS can negatively affect neurocognitive skills and academic achievement.
  • Understanding the specific cognitive domains affected by EDS is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between sleepiness and various cognitive and academic skills in primary school children.
  • To identify which specific cognitive functions are associated with daytime sleepiness.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 191 unselected primary school children was assessed.
  • A standardized neuropsychological test battery was employed to evaluate cognitive and academic skills.
  • Partial least squares path modeling was used to analyze the statistical relationships, with results validated by bootstrapping.

Main Results:

  • Sleepiness was significantly associated with verbal abilities and complex cognitive functions.
  • Specific affected skills include reading comprehension, oral/syntactic comprehension, spelling, and mathematical skills.
  • The visuospatial domain did not show an association with sleepiness.

Conclusions:

  • Daytime sleepiness in children predominantly affects higher-order cognitive functions, particularly those reliant on verbal processing.
  • Educational and cognitive interventions for children with sleepiness should focus on verbal and complex cognitive domains.
  • Visuospatial abilities appear resilient to the effects of excessive daytime sleepiness in this age group.

Keywords:
cognitioncomprehensionlearningmathematical skillsreadingsleepinesswriting

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