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Updated: Aug 5, 2026
Measuring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation During Naps in Early Childhood
Published on: October 2, 2019
Wearable Sleep Monitoring in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Associations With Subjective Sleep Ratings and
Kathy Ruble1, Rachel Northrup2, Tomer Nusinov2
1Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Pediatric Oncology, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Background:
Sleep disturbances are associated with increased fatigue, reduced quality of life, and neurocognitive dysfunction and have emerged as a common complication among pediatric cancer survivors. Sleep disturbances are particularly concerning given their potential to exacerbate existing neurocognitive impacts of cancer treatments. This pilot study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a home-wearable EEG-based sleep device (Sleep ProfilerTM) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors as well as associations between specific sleep parameters and neurocognitive functioning.
Procedure:
Children (ages 8-12; M = 10 years, SD = 1.6; N = 23) >6 months post-treatment for ALL were enrolled at clinical visits and wore the Sleep ProfilerTM for two consecutive nights at home, followed by neurocognitive testing of attention, inhibitory control, working memory, and processing speed. Parents completed subjective measures of child sleep, anxiety, depression, and acceptability. Feasibility reflected the percentage of children wearing the device at least one night and the percentage of nights with good EEG quality data.
Results:
All participants wore the device both nights, with 84% meeting the threshold for good quality measurement. Few children met recommended quantity and quality sleep thresholds based on objective measurement, including 5 patients with elevated snoring levels; 43.5% of subjective ratings fell above the threshold for sleep disturbance. Greater sleep latency was associated with worse inhibitory control (r = -0.42, p = 0.046), and total sleep time was positively associated with inhibitory control and attention.
Conclusions:
Findings confirm the feasibility and acceptability of home EEG sleep monitoring in school-age survivors, and associations of sleep latency and snoring with reduced neurocognitive functioning may offer modifiable risk factors for aspects of neuropsychological dysfunction common in pediatric survivorship.
Clinical Trial Registration:
At the time this study was conducted, we were not required to register the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. It was a single-institution feasibility study without intervention, which was not considered a clinical trial.
