Children who snore daily, more than three nights a week, may experience changes in their brain structure and suffer from behavioral problems.
- When a child snores more than three nights a week, it has an impact on his brain which explains the changes in his behavior
- These behavioral problems are reversible if the snoring is treated
Obstructive sleep-disordered breathing, such as snoring, may be a reversible cause of behavioral problems in some children. This statement is the result of a study, published in the journal NatureCommunications. The authors estimate that frequent snoring – more than three nights a week – could modify the structure of the brain of children, in particular their frontal lobe. This phenomenon would also be at the origin of the modification of their attitude. Thus, early detection of snoring as well as its management could, according to the researchers, reduce possible behavioral problems in the youngest.
Snoring affects children’s behavior
Snoring is a breathing noise that occurs when a person is sleeping. It generally occurs during the deep sleep phase following falling asleep. It is linked to the vibration movements of the soft palate which, during inspiration, comes up against the posterior wall of the pharynx. In children, snoring generally results from nasopharyngeal obstruction by an increase in the volume of the adenoids – located at the back of the throat, above the soft palate – or the tonsils. The treatment of these lesions is necessary if snoring causes episodes of respiratory pause during sleep.
Previous studies have already shown a link between snoring and certain behavioral problems in children, such as inattention or hyperactivity. Nevertheless, until now, the reason was not fully understood by the medical profession. Similarly, other work highlighted a correlation between sleep apnea – ventilatory pauses of at least 10 seconds with a frequency of five per hour of sleep – and certain brain changes. But, here too, scientists do not know the exact impact of these brain developments on the behaviors observed in some children suffering from obstructive sleep-disordered breathing, that is to say a resistance to breathing during sleep and generally associated with snoring.
Treating this respiratory problem could solve certain behavioral problems
During their work, the researchers therefore analyzed the data – MRI of brain activity, biological samples, psychological, environmental and cognitive information, etc. – more than 11,000 children aged 9 and 10. The goal was to determine the links between their snoring, the structure of their brain and any behavioral problems they encountered. Scientists have thus confirmed that young people with behavioral problems snore more frequently than others and that several regions of the frontal lobe of their brain have smaller volumes than the norm. The frontal lobe of the brain is particularly involved in cognitive functions such as problem solving, impulse control and social interactions, which would therefore explain the behavioral problems from which these children suffer. Nevertheless, the authors believe that these causal links will need to be confirmed by further work to better determine how snoring, brain structure and behavioral problems change over time.
Ultimately, if these results are confirmed, the good news of this work could be the reversible nature of children’s behavioral problems. Indeed, early detection and management of their snoring would easily improve their attitude.
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