Sleep Behaviors and Subcortical Brain Structures in Children with Overweight/Obesity

The present study investigated the relationship between sleep and subcortical brain structures in 98 children with overweight/obesity. It estimated Sleep behaviors using wrist-worn accelerometers and acquired the shape of the subcortical brain structures using MRI. The study found-

• Among all the sleep variables, only total time in bed showed relevance to pallidum and putamen structure.
• Children spending more time in bed had greater expansions in the right and left pallidum and right putamen.

These findings suggest that more time in bed causes expansions in two subcortical brain regions in children with overweight/obesity. Hence, it can be concluded that sleep hygiene has a beneficial effect on the brain.

Cadenas-Sanchez C, Migueles JH, Torres-Lopez LV. et al. Sleep Behaviors and the Shape of Subcortical Brain Structures in Children w h Overweight/Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study. Indian J Pediatr. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-024-05094-1