Analysis of sleep spindles in children with Asperger’s syndrome

Rodolfo Cebreros-Paniagua; Fructuoso Ayala-Guerrero; Erik Leonardo Mateos-Salgado; Christopher Isaac Villamar-Flores; Carlos Alberto Gutiérrez-Chávez; Ulises Jiménez-Correa

doi:10.5935/1984-0063.20200059

Sleep Science, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2021; 14(03): 201-206
DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20200059

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Analysis of sleep spindles in children with Asperger’s syndrome

Rodolfo Cebreros-Paniagua

¹National Autonomous University of Mexico, Psychology Faculty - Mexico City - Mexico.

,

Fructuoso Ayala-Guerrero

¹National Autonomous University of Mexico, Psychology Faculty - Mexico City - Mexico.

,

Erik Leonardo Mateos-Salgado

¹National Autonomous University of Mexico, Psychology Faculty - Mexico City - Mexico.

,

Christopher Isaac Villamar-Flores

¹National Autonomous University of Mexico, Psychology Faculty - Mexico City - Mexico.

,

Carlos Alberto Gutiérrez-Chávez

²Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Psychology Faculty - Toluca - State of Mexico - Mexico.

,

Ulises Jiménez-Correa

³National Autonomous University of Mexico, Sleep Disorders Clinic, Medicine Faculty, Research Division - Mexico City - Mexico.

⁴National Autonomous University of Mexico, Postgraduate Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychology Faculty - Mexico City - Mexico.

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Sleep spindles are an element of the sleep microstructure observed on the EEG during the NREM sleep phase. Sleep spindles are associated to sleep stability functions as well as memory consolidation and optimization of different cognitive processes. On the other hand, Asperger’s syndrome (AS) is a generalized developmental disorder in which cognitive and sleep disturbances have been described. In this study we analyzed different characteristics of sleep spindles in a group of children with AS and compared them with sleep spindles of a group of children with typical development paired by age; both groups ranged from 6 to 12 years of age and were all male. We observed a statistically significant decrease in sleep spindles intrinsic frequency in different brain regions in the AS group in relation to the typical development group. This finding could be due to immaturity in brain regions related to the integration of sleep spindles; and this immaturity could be related with cognitive aspects in these patients.

Keywords:

Sleep Spindle - Asperger’s Syndrome - Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Full Text

References

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