title: The Developmental Course of Sleep Disturbances Across Childhood Relates to Brain Morphology at Age 7: The Generation R Study.
abstract: Little is known about the impact of sleep disturbances on the structural properties of the developing brain. This study explored associations between childhood sleep disturbances and brain morphology at 7 years.
  
  
  
  Mothers from the Generation R cohort reported sleep disturbances in 720 children at ages 2 months, 1.5, 2, 3, and 6 years. T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images were used to assess brain structure at 7 years. Associations of sleep disturbances at each age and of sleep disturbance trajectories with brain volumes (total brain volume, cortical and subcortical grey matter, white matter) were tested with linear regressions. To assess regional differences, sleep disturbance trajectories were tested as determinants for cortical thickness in whole-brain analyses.
  
  
  
  Sleep disturbances followed a declining trend from toddlerhood onwards. Infant sleep was not associated with brain morphology at age 7. Per SD sleep disturbances (one frequent symptom or two less frequent symptoms) at 2 and 3 years of age, children had -6.3 (-11.7 to -0.8) cm3 and -6.4 (-11.7 to -1.7) cm3 smaller grey matter volumes, respectively. Sleep disturbances at age 6 years were associated with global brain morphology (grey matter: -7.3 (-12.1 to -2.6), p value = .01). Consistently, trajectory analyses showed that more adverse developmental course of childhood sleep disturbances are associated with smaller grey matter volumes and thinner dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
  
  
  
  Sleep disturbances from age 2 years onwards are associated with smaller grey matter volumes. Thinner prefrontal cortex in children with adverse sleep disturbance trajectories may reflect effects of sleep disturbances on brain maturation.
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Desana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kocevska
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ryan L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Muetzel
authors.affiliation: Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Annemarie I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Luik
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.|School of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maartje P C M
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Luijk
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Pediatrics, Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vincent W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.|Department of Radiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tonya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.|Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemeier
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology
keywords: brain volumes; cortical thickness.; dyssomnia; longitudinal; sleep problems