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Sleeps Impact on Children’s Working Memory and Attention Essay

Updated August 17, 2022
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Sleeps Impact on Children’s Working Memory and Attention Essay essay

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Sleeps role in learning, memory, and other neurobehavioral tasks have been widely studied. This research has indicated that through manipulation of sleep in experimental models people can influence learning and memory. Along with this, if people employ precise learning and training methods the data suggests that these methods can have an impact on sleep or have correlational impacts on brain functioning during sleep (Sadeh, Gruber, & Raviv, 2003). Given how essential sleep is, it is concerning that researchers have seen a rise in delayed bedtimes, that often coincide with inadequate sleep quality. This trend is especially common among school-aged children that have no clinically diagnosed sleep disorders. This literature review will look at how sleep quantity and quality impact children’s memories, specifically things like working memory and attention.

In a fairly recent 2009 study, researchers took an experimental protocol and sample group and temporarily subjected the adolescents to a 3-week agreement, that included a baseline week that was then accompanied up by a random sleep restriction (SR) arrangement and then a subsequent healthy duration (HD) week. Wake time for participants was established at 8:30 a.m, while bedtimes were systematically varied during the SR week (Monday – Friday) and self selected during the HD “washout” periods (Beebe et al., 2009). During the SR week Monday-Friday nights participants’ bedtimes were limited to 6.5 hours in bed. While, the Monday-Friday nights of the HD week, consisted of bedtimes that allowed for 10 hours in bed. In the end only 6 of the 10 participants of this study had any results that could be put into the paper due to complications in the study, such as equipment malfunctions (Beebe et al., 2009).

The results of this fMRI study suggest that when sleep restricted adolescents are asked to maintain their attention compensatory mechanisms in attention-related brain zones experience a heightening in their response. For example, in the well-rested brain, regions that are typically engaged during a strenuous attention working memory task, increased in activity to maintain performance post chronic sleep restriction. In contrast, chronic sleep restriction, demonstrated an increase in the engagement in regions that are typically subdued during such a task in comparison to the well-rested brain (Beebe et al., 2009).

Following the trend of sleep restriction in a recent 2015 cross sectional population-based study of 44 elementary schools located in the metropolitan Melbourne area of all grade 1 students was carried out. 1,749 children encompassed this study with the mean age of these children being around 7. A questionnaire was assigned to parents to help researchers to determine a child’s varying amounts of sleep (Cho et al., 2015). Once, researchers had this information they then conducted a one-on-one child computerized assessment at school. The predictor measures were parent-reported. They included, perceptions of poor sleep, consistency of bedtime, sleep quantity, and sleep onset latency.

The outcome measures were backward digit recall (verbal working memory) and Mister X (visuospatial working memory) subtests. Results of this study demonstrated the increases in poor sleep, inconsistent bedtimes, and shorter sleep spans were all connected to poorer outcomes in verbal working memory. However, researchers did note that poor sleep was not connected to deficits in visuospatial working memory (Cho et al., 2015).

While working memory is important it is also important to acknowledge the impacts of poor sleep quantity and quality on emotional functioning, short-term memory, working memory and attention. For example in a study conducted by Vriend et al. (2012), the researchers study the relationship between sleep and daytime function in standard developing children between the ages of 8 – 12. An actigraph was used to measure the participants rest cycles for one week. After that phase in the study, the participants then completed tasks devised to measure emotional functioning, short-term memory, working memory, and attention, such as the ART, WISC, and so on. The researchers results demonstrated that children were 1 hour below the recommended sleep guidelines.

Small variations in sleep were notably associated with differences in emotional functioning and attention. Along with this, associations in the relationship between short sleep duration and increased negative affective response were observed. There were also impairments in the performance on the CCTT-2 test (Vriend et al., 2012).

The previous research by Vriend et al. (2012), demonstrated that the children they studied were missing 1 hour of critical sleep, well researchers, Sadeh, Gruber, and Raviv (2003), demonstrate in their study the importance of this extra hour of sleep. In this study researchers analyzed the effects of moderate sleep restriction and extension neurobehavioral functioning. In this study there were 77 4th & 6th grade children with 39 boys & 38 girls comprising the study. These children were tracked for 5 nights with activity monitors. Neural Behavioral functioning was analyzed through computerized tests on the 2nd day of their typical sleep cycle. On the 3rd evening, children were requested to either extend or restrict their sleep by an hour for 3 consecutive nights. Neural Behavioral functioning was subsequently analyzed on day 6 post sleep manipulation. Researchers found that sleep restriction offered improved sleep quality, but reduced self reported alertness (Sadeh, Gruber, & Raviv, 2003).

Continuing with sleeping patterns and their effects on memory. In a 2014 study researchers had 110 3rd and 4th grade elementary school children between the ages of 8-11(65 being boys) complete sleep items, i.e, reporting out their current level of tiredness on all occasions, along with reporting out their last night’s sleep first thing each day. The children also completed working memory tasks on their smartphones at school or home multiple times a day for 4 weeks straight. The participants were also paid or received gifts in this study (Könen, Dirk, & Schmiedek, 2014). The researchers found significant variations in children’s daily cognitive performance, self-reported nightly sleep quality, time in bed, and daytime exhaustion. These three factors were associated with performance in relation to the variations in the children’s academic and non-academic life. Sleep quality and quantity showed predictive measure of performance in the morning, and afternoon in relation to present levels of tiredness. Children with a below standard performance level demonstrated an association between morning performance and sleep quality in this study (Könen, Dirk, & Schmiedek, 2014).

There is evidence to suggest that sleep restricted adolescents may have compensatory mechanisms in attention-related brain regions that experience a heightening in their response in response to this restriction (Beebe et al., 2009) . There is also evidence suggesting that, poor sleep quantity and quality can lead to deficits in verbal working memory (Cho et al., 2015) and deficits in sustained attention, divided attention, and emotional functioning (Vriend et al., 2012). There are also suggestions that sleep reductions can improve sleep quality, but there is a potential risk of loss in altrenesss (Sadeh, Gruber, & Raviv, 2003). Over all, there is evidence to suggest that daily fluctuations in sleeping quality and quantity can predict performance on working memory tasks (Könen, Dirk, & Schmiedek, 2014).

Limitations in these studies were things like sample size. While most of the sources utilized in this review, had pretty good sample sizes. There was one study however that only had 6 participants in the study. With that low of a number it’s hard to generalize the findings of the study. Another issue seen with one of the studies is that they paid the participants. While incentives are good for retention of participants, they can often skew results. Another limitation, that can be seen across multiple studies is the use of self-report tools. While most people don’t want to intentionally lie or right down favorable answers they often do with these self-report tools. Even the most reliable of self-report tools have been known to skew data, because of how subjective they can be for the person taking them.

Given all the data, we have been shown that reductions in sleep, even just by a mere hour can have negative impacts in working memory, attention, and even emotional functioning. Sleep plays a massive role in children’s ability to perform optimally in their day to day life as well as extending their attention and working memory. While these studies are great, there needs to be more studies on the impact of sleep restriction on long term memory, particularly with children. There should also, be more studies looking at memory and if sleep or lack of it can prevent storage decay & retrieval errors from memory in children. There also needs to be more research on short term memory in children and if there short term memory can be enhanced with sleep.

References

  1. Beebe, D. W., Difrancesco, M. W., Tlustos, S. J., Mcnally, K. A., & Holland, S. K. (2009). Preliminary fMRI findings in experimentally sleep-restricted adolescents engaged in a working memory task. Behavioral and Brain Functions,5(1), 1-7. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-5-9
  2. Cho, M., Quach, J., Anderson, P., Mensah, F., Wake, M., & Roberts, G. (2015). Poor sleep and lower working memory in grade 1 children: Cross-Sectional, population-based study. Academic Pediatrics,15(1), 111-116. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2014.06.021
  3. Könen, T., Dirk, J., & Schmiedek, F. (2014). Cognitive benefits of last nights sleep: Daily variations in childrens sleep behavior are related to working memory fluctuations. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,56(2), 171-182. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12296
  4. Sadeh, A., Gruber, R., & Raviv, A. (2003). The effects of sleep restriction and extension on school-age Children: What a difference an hour makes. Child Development,74(2), 444-455. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.7402008
  5. Vriend, J. L., Davidson, F. D., Corkum, P. V., Rusak, B., Mclaughlin, E. N., & Chambers, C. T. (2012). Sleep quantity and quality in relation to daytime functioning in children. Childrens Health Care,41(3), 204-222. doi:10.1080/02739615.2012.685039
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Sleeps Impact on Children’s Working Memory and Attention Essay. (2022, Aug 17). Retrieved from https://sunnypapers.com/sleeps-impact-on-childrens-working-memory-and-attention-essay/