Compared to full term , premature infants exhibit significant differences in sleep structure , which mainly include differences in electroencephalographic spectral values , in total sleep time and in arousal threshold .
Furthermore , prematurity seems to be a risk factor of sleep breathing disorders in childhood and adolescence .
Conclusions The alterations in sleep patterns are an outcome of prematurity ( immaturity of nervous system ) as well as of postnatal factors and comorbidities .
Sleep problems in this population of infants seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle of impaired neurodevelopment .
Background Sleep undergoes changes from birth to adulthood , while sleep disorders are associated with various cognitive deficiencies in childhood .
In parallel , prematurity is known to predispose to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes .
Our aim is to provide literature data about factors influencing sleep in the premature infants and sleep outcomes in this population .
Neonatal Sleep Predicts Attention Orienting and Distractibility
Objective : Children with sleep disorders tend to experience attention problems , yet little is known about the relationship between sleep and attention in early development . This prospect i ve follow-up study investigated the longitudinal relationships between neonatal sleep , attention , and distraction in infants born preterm . Method : We used actigraphy and sleep-wake diaries in the neonatal intensive care unit ( NICU , N = 65 ) , attention orienting in a visual-recognition-memory task ( VRM ) at age 4 months , and structured observation of attention and distractibility at age 18 months . Results : Infants with poorer neonatal sleep ( n = 31 ) exhibited longer first gaze duration s in the VRM at 4 months and longer distraction episodes at 18 months relative to neonatal controls who slept well ( p < .01 ) . Hierarchical regression models support relations between neonatal sleep and gaze behavior at 4 months and distractibility at 18 months ; moreover , alterations in orienting attention at 4 months predicted the likelihood of being distracted during the second year of life . Conclusion : Findings underscore the importance of early sleep-wake and attention regulation in the development of distraction in infants born preterm
Compared to full term , premature infants exhibit significant differences in sleep structure , which mainly include differences in electroencephalographic spectral values , in total sleep time and in arousal threshold .
Furthermore , prematurity seems to be a risk factor of sleep breathing disorders in childhood and adolescence .
Conclusions The alterations in sleep patterns are an outcome of prematurity ( immaturity of nervous system ) as well as of postnatal factors and comorbidities .
Sleep problems in this population of infants seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle of impaired neurodevelopment .
Background Sleep undergoes changes from birth to adulthood , while sleep disorders are associated with various cognitive deficiencies in childhood .
In parallel , prematurity is known to predispose to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes .
Our aim is to provide literature data about factors influencing sleep in the premature infants and sleep outcomes in this population .