title: Sleep Disturbance and Expressive Language Development in Preschool-Age Children With Down Syndrome.
abstract: Recent evidence has suggested that sleep may facilitate language learning. This study examined variation in language ability in 29 toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) in relation to levels of sleep disruption. Toddlers with DS and poor sleep (66%, n = 19) showed greater deficits on parent-reported and objective measures of language, including vocabulary and syntax. Correlations between sleep and language were found in groups with equivalent medical and social backgrounds and after control for relevant behavioral comorbidities, including autism symptoms. These results emphasize the important role of quality sleep in all children's expressive language development, and may help increase our understanding of the etiology of language deficits in developmental disorders, potentially leading to new treatment approaches.
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona and Sonoran University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
authors.forename: Jamie O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Edgin
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona and Sonoran University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tooley
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona and Sonoran University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Demara
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona and Sonoran University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
authors.forename: Casandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nyhuis
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona and Sonoran University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
authors.forename: Payal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona and Sonoran University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
authors.forename: Goffredina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spanò
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*