Brain Wave Patterns Can Predict Blunders
March 25, 2009
Science Daily/University of California - Davis
Everyone makes an occasional error due to lack of attention. Now scientists have found a distinct electric signature in the brain which predicts that such an error is about to be made. The discovery could prove useful in a variety of applications, from developing monitoring devices that alert air traffic control operators that their attention is flagging, to devising and monitoring new strategies to help children cope with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
"The alpha and mu rhythms are what happen when the brain runs on idle," Mazaheri explained. "Say you're sitting in a room and you close your eyes. That causes a huge alpha rhythm to rev up in the back of your head. But the second you open your eyes, it drops dramatically, because now you're looking at things and your neurons have visual input to process."
The team also found that errors triggered immediate changes in wave activity in the front region of the brain, which appeared to drive down alpha activity in the rear region, "It looks as if the brain is saying, 'Pay attention!' and then reducing the likelihood of another mistake," Mazaheri said.
It shouldn't take too many years to incorporate these findings into practical applications, Mazaheri said. For example, a wireless EEG could be deployed at an air traffic controller's station to trigger an alert when it senses that alpha activity is beginning to regularly exceed a certain level.
It could also provide new therapies for children with ADHD, he said. "Instead of watching behavior — which is an imprecise measure of attention — we can monitor these alpha waves, which tell us that attention is waning. And that can help us design therapies as well as evaluate the efficacy of various treatments, whether it's training or drugs."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090323122439.htm
Underlying Sleep Problem Linked to ADD/ADHD Disorder In Children
March 2, 2009
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
A study in the March 1 issue of the journal SLEEP suggests the presence of an intrinsic sleep problem specific to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and supports the idea that children with ADHD may be chronically sleep deprived and have abnormal REM sleep.
Results show that children with ADHD have a total sleep time that is significantly shorter than that of controls. Children in the ADHD group had an average total sleep time of eight hours, 19 minutes; this was 33 minutes less than the average sleep time of eight hours, 52 minutes, in controls. Children with ADHD also had an average rapid eye movement (REM) sleep time that was significantly reduced by 16 minutes.
According to the authors, this study may suggest that ADHD children suffer from an intrinsic sleep problem that could be related to the underlying pathophysiology of the disorder. They report that the impact of sleep duration on neuropsychological functioning in children with ADHD should be investigated further. Additional studies also will be required to examine whether shorter sleep duration in children with ADHD is associated with ADHD-like symptoms, including behavioral problems and poor neurocognitive functioning.
The authors suggest that if a functional alteration of sleep in children with ADHD can be confirmed, then it may be possible to develop therapeutic approaches for optimizing and individualizing the children's sleep regimes.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090301094248.htm
Evening-Type College Students On Early Daytime Class Schedules At Disadvantage
June 10, 2008
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Eveningness is associated with not only later phases of a person's sleep-wake cycle, but also with sleep irregularities, more pronounced sleep restriction during the week, and higher sleep compensation on weekends. Evening type college students may, therefore, need a sleep education that helps them adjust to imposed morning schedules, and would probably benefit from later class schedules, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 10 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
The results revealed that, more than other diurnal types, evening-oriented students show sleep debt during the week, sleep compensation on weekends, sleep-wake schedule irregularities, and later sleep-wake schedules. These results suggest a disagreement among their sleep-wake cycles and the morning class schedules.
"Our findings, together with other studies on the subject, lead us to firmly suspect that, at least in adolescents and young adults, evening-type students may face a real disadvantage when forced to adhere to morning classes," said Gomes.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080610072044.htm
Poor Sleep May Increase Odds of Emotional, Behavioral Disturbances, ADHD
June 10, 2008
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Insufficient sleep among adolescents may not only contribute to lower grades and a lack of motivation, but may also increase the odds of serious levels of emotional and behavioral disturbances, including ADHD, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 9 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
According to the results, students reported sleeping, on average, 7.6 hours per school night, with 48 percent reporting less than eight hours. Hours of sleep per school night were significantly positively associated with GPA and level of motivation, and significantly negatively associated with clinically significant levels of emotional disturbance and ADHD. Each additional hour of sleep on school nights lowered the odds of scoring in the clinically significant range of emotional disturbance and ADHD by 25 percent and 34 percent, respectively.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071206.htm
College Student Sleep Patterns Could Be Detrimental
May 13, 2008
Science Daily/Central Michigan University
A Central Michigan University study has determined that many college students have sleep patterns that could have detrimental effects on their daily performance.
College students are among the most sleep-deprived age group in the U.S. Sleep deprivation can have detrimental effects on daily performance, including academics and driving, and has also been linked to depressed mood and behavioral problems.
A similar study by Forquer and Johnson, published in "Sleep and Hypnosis," found that the use of continuous white noise may help college students get better sleep. The study found that white noise was effective for college students with self-reported sleep problems to decrease difficulty in falling asleep and night wakings.
"These issues are extremely important because not getting enough sleep is associated with impaired attention, school performance, and also can lead to driving accidents as people fall asleep behind the wheel of their car," said Forquer. "Helping students sleep better will hopefully carry over to help them in some of these areas as well."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512145824.htm
Sleep Problems Common in Children With ADHD
April 8, 2008
Science Daily/JAMA and Archives Journals
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear likely to experience sleep problems, according to a new report. Sleep problems in these children may be associated with poorer child psychosocial quality of life, child daily functioning, caregiver mental health and family functioning.
"ADHD is the most common mental health disorder in childhood, affecting up to 11 percent of Australians aged 6 to 17 years," according to background information in the article. About half of parents of children with ADHD report that their children have difficulty sleeping, feel tired on waking or have nightmares or other sleep problems such as disordered breathing and restless leg syndrome. Parents of children with ADHD are more likely to experience stress, anxiety and depression than those of children without ADHD.
Sleep problems affected 175 (73.3 percent) of the children, with a 28.5 percent prevalence of mild sleep problems and 44.8 percent prevalence of moderate or severe sleep problems. Some of the most commonly occurring sleep patterns were difficulty falling asleep, resisting going to bed and tiredness on waking.
"Compared with children without sleep problems, those with sleep problems were more likely to miss or be late for school, and their caregivers were more likely to be late for work," the authors write. "Forty-five percent of caregivers reported that their pediatricians had asked about their children's sleep and, of these, 60 percent reported receiving treatment advice."
"In summary, sleep problems in schoolchildren with ADHD are extremely common and strongly associated with poorer quality of life, daily functioning and school attendance in the child and poorer caregiver mental health and work attendance," the authors conclude. "Implementation of a sleep intervention in children with ADHD could feasibly improve outcomes beyond treatment of ADHD alone. It is possible that such intervention could reduce the need for medication in some children."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407160751.htm
Insomnia Linked to Depression in Young Adults
April 3, 2008
Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine
A new study confirms the persistent nature of insomnia and the increased risk of subsequent depression among individuals with insomnia.
According to the results, the annual prevalence of one-month insomnia increased gradually over time, with a cumulative prevalence rate of 20 percent and a greater than two-fold risk among women. In 40 percent of subjects, insomnia developed into more chronic forms over time. Insomnia either with or without comorbid depression was highly stable over time. Insomnia lasting two weeks or longer predicted major depressive episodes and major depressive disorder at subsequent interviews.
Seventeen to 50 percent of subjects with insomnia lasting two weeks or longer developed a major depressive episode reported in a later interview. "Pure" insomnia and "pure" depression were not longitudinally related to each other, whereas insomnia comorbid with depression was longitudinally related to both.
"We used to think that insomnia was most often just a symptom of depression. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that insomnia is not just a symptom of depression, but that it may actually precede depression. In other words, people who have insomnia but no depression are at increased risk for later developing depression. This study adds to our knowledge by including a much longer follow-up period than most previous studies," said Daniel J. Buysse, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh, lead author of the paper.
"We were also able to look separately at insomnia alone, depression alone, and combined insomnia-depression. The results show that insomnia seems to be followed by depression more consistently than the other way around. In addition, we found that insomnia tended to be a chronic problem that gets more persistent over time, whereas depression was a more intermittent problem."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401081937.htm
Adolescents with Chronic Insomnia Report 2x – 5x Increase in Personal Problems
March 23, 2008
Science Daily/University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Chronic insomnia is costing adolescents more than sleep. It’s been linked to a wide range of physical, psychological and interpersonal problems, according to public health researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, who completed the first prospective study of adolescents with persistent sleep problems.
Documenting a “twofold to fivefold” increase in personal problems among adolescents with persistent sleeplessness, public health researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston say they have completed the first prospective study demonstrating the negative impact of chronic insomnia on 11 to 17 year olds.
More than one fourth of the youths surveyed had one or more symptoms of insomnia and almost half of these youngsters had chronic conditions. Findings appear in the March issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health and are based on interviews with 3,134 adolescents in metropolitan Houston.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080320192339.htm
All-Nighters Equal Lower Grades
December 1, 2007
Science Daily/St. Lawrence University
With end-of-semester finals looming, here's an exam question: Will pulling an all-nighter actually help you score well?
"You can't do your best work when you're sleep-deprived," Thacher says of her findings, which were that two-thirds of the students reported that they had pulled at least one all-nighter during a semester and that those who did it regularly had lower GPAs. Short-term side effects of sleep deprivation include delayed reactions and tendencies to make mistakes.
Many students believe that it's a "rite of passage" to stay up all night during college and that "it's kind of fun," Thacher says. But, she adds, "Pulling all-nighters compromises your sleep overall " and makes it difficult to reach full academic potential. Short-term side effects of sleep deprivation include delayed reactions and tendencies to make mistakes.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071130162518.htm
Blue-Blocking Glasses to Improve Sleep and ADHD Symptoms Developed
November 14, 2007
Science Daily/John Carroll University
Scientists at John Carroll University, working in its Lighting Innovations Institute, have developed an affordable accessory that appears to reduce the symptoms of ADHD. Their discovery also has also been shown to improve sleep patterns among people who have difficulty falling asleep. The John Carroll researchers have created glasses designed to block blue light, therefore altering a person's circadian rhythm, which leads to improvement in ADHD symptoms and sleep disorders.
The individual puts on the glasses a couple of hours ahead of bedtime, advancing the circadian rhythm. The special glasses block the blue rays that cause a delay in the start of the flow of melatonin, the sleep hormone. Normally, melatonin flow doesn't begin until after the individual goes into darkness. Studies indicate that promoting the earlier release of melatonin results in a marked decline of ADHD symptoms.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112143308.htm