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Altered Spontaneous Brain Activity Related to Neurologic and Sleep Dysfunction in Children With Obstructive Sleep

Jie Bai1, Hongwei Wen2,3, Jun Tai4

  • 1Department of Radiology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, China.

Frontiers in Neuroscience
|December 6, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Childhood obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is linked to altered brain activity in children. These changes in spontaneous brain function may serve as early diagnostic biomarkers for the condition.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pediatrics
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Childhood obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent chronic disorder.
  • OSA can lead to significant health issues including growth and cognitive impairments.
  • Previous research suggests structural brain abnormalities in children with OSA.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate alterations in spontaneous brain activity in children with OSA.
  • To utilize resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) with ALFF, fALFF, and ReHo methods.
  • To identify potential neurophysiological mechanisms and diagnostic biomarkers for childhood OSA.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 31 untreated children with OSA and 33 healthy controls (HC).
  • Employed resting-state fMRI to analyze amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), fractional ALFF (fALFF), and regional homogeneity (ReHo).
  • Correlated brain activity measures with sleep parameters and assessed diagnostic utility via ROC analysis.

Main Results:

  • OSA patients exhibited lower ALFF in the right lingual gyrus compared to HC.
  • Decreased fALFF was observed in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), with increased fALFF in the left precuneus.
  • Reduced ReHo was found in the left inferior frontal gyrus (orbital part) and left MFG.
  • Left MFG fALFF correlated with sleep parameters and showed high diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood OSA is associated with brain dysfunction in the default mode network, frontal lobe, and lingual gyrus.
  • Altered spontaneous neuronal activity patterns may underlie the neurophysiological mechanisms of OSA.
  • fALFF in the left MFG shows promise as an early diagnostic biomarker for childhood OSA.

Keywords:
amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation fractionalchildrencognitive impairmentfunctional magnetic resonance imagingobstructive sleep apnearegional homogeneityresting statespontaneous activity

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