Washington D.C., May 8: The prime time for brain development in a child's life is the first year, where the infant spends most of the time asleep. It is the time when neural connections form and sensory memories are encoded.
However, when sleep is disrupted, as occurs more often among children with autism, brain development may be affected, too.
New research led by the University of Washington finds that sleep problems in a baby's first 12 months may not only precede an autism diagnosis but also may be associated with altered growth trajectory in a key part of the brain, the hippocampus.
The study, which was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, researchers report that in a sample of more than 400 taken of 6- to 12-month-old infants, those who were later diagnosed with autism were more likely to have had difficulty falling asleep.
It also states that this sleep difficulty was associated with altered growth trajectories in the hippocampus.
"The hippocampus is critical for learning and memory, and changes in the size of the hippocampus have been associated with poor sleep in adults and older children.
As many as 80 per cent of the children with autism spectrum disorder have sleep problems," said Annette Estes, director of the UW Autism Center and senior author of the study.
"In our clinical experience, parents have a lot of concerns about their children's sleep, and in our work on early autism intervention, we observed that sleep problems were holding children and families back," added Estes, who is also a UW professor of speech and hearing sciences.
"It could be that altered sleep is part-and-parcel of autism for some children. One clue is that behavioural interventions to improve sleep don't work for all children with autism, even when their parents are doing everything just right. This suggests that there may be a biological component to sleep problems for some children with autism," said Estes.
To consider links among sleep, brain development, and autism, researchers at the IBIS Network looked at MRI scans of 432 infants, surveyed parents about sleep patterns, and measured cognitive functioning using a standardized assessment.
At the outset of the study, infants were classified according to their risk for developing autism: Those who were at higher risk of developing autism -- about two-thirds of the study sample -- had an older sibling who had already been diagnosed.
Infant siblings of children with autism have a 20 per cent chance of developing autism spectrum disorder -- a much higher risk than children in the general population.
In the current study, 127 of the 432 infants were identified as "low risk" at the time the MRI scans were taken because they had no family history of autism.
They later evaluated all the participants at 24 months of age to determine whether they had developed autism. Of the roughly 300 children originally considered "high familial risk," 71 were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at that age.
Problems with sleep were more common among the infants later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, as were larger hippocampi. No other subcortical brain structures were affected, including the amygdala, which is responsible for certain emotions and aspects of memory, or the thalamus, a signal transmitter from the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex.
The authors note that while parents reported more sleep difficulties among infants who developed autism compared to those who did not, the differences were very subtle and only observed when looking at group averages across hundreds of infants.
Sleep patterns in the first years of life change rapidly as infants transition from sleeping around the clock to a more adult-like sleep/wake cycle. Until further research is completed, Estes said, it is not possible to interpret challenges with sleep as an early sign of increased risk for autism.
Appreciating the work of police, who have arrested four suspects in connection with the murder, RSS Kshetreeya Sanghachalak V Nagaraj said, "If the involvement of PFI and SDPI in a larger conspiracy is proved, we will seek a ban on them from the Centre."
Comments
If RSS and other chillar saffron pillas are banned....then all Muslim based parties will surely back off....try it
..India will be a Better place to live......
if u say to ban SDPI and PFI wht abt the killers who killed more thn 1000's of Muslim & Dalits in india who will ban those who killed this muslims & dalits they are nationlist this RSS VHP ABVP Sangi shld b banned first in india if you ban this guys thn india will b peace country y u all involving kerala in this in kerala they kill for political reason @mohan and @nirmal u mean to ban all the parties in kerala and in india thn only RSS will rule the country no it will never happen everyone hve rights in india dont point others b4 pointing others look into you wht you guys are upto thn point others for ban or anything wht RSS do notice tht firts insted saying to other parites
First RSS should be banned. Then automatically there wont be any problem, coz the root cause of all the hatred is from this organization.
Also Ban Praveen Poojary killers & thier organization like Bajarang dal , VHP , HJV and Gow rakshak sangs ! !
How about RSS involved in various terrorist activity....I am not a member of both parties....but who are these tapaories to ban....
Same way why don't they ask central govt to ban gang, which is involved in killing Udupi Praveen Poojary?
A new TWIST to hide the real CULPRITS who were caught few days back... We all know cheddis evil agenda ... We dont trust them anymore....
How many times you asked centre When RSS members were hacked to death in Kerala . multiple times in a year ........? that means LDF UDF Congress......CPM and other parties should be banned for killing RSS members ?
If it was possible . then long back would have done .......this is GOD's World .....No evil can claim as its own.......Wa jaa'a haqq wa zahakal bathil ...........Falsehood should persih ...as it is bound to perish .......
and remember RSS is not patriotic not Hindu Organization..........and who are you to ask centre ......BJP elected not to control but to maintain a country
cpm and BJP are in open war in kerala and killing each other , never find any wrong on them ... any govt ruled in India since 70 years never find any guilty on RSS , where as most of the reports pointed its direct hands and some times its ideology behind it ...
central govt may hurriedly take action , if anybody approach action against PFI , as they effortlessly working to ban ZAkir naik and his org.. and keen to ban triple talaq.
Ban Also the Killers of
Ghandhi
Dabolkar
Panesar
Karkera
Akhlaq
hahahahahaha, what are these guys upto, they kill their own members and point out other organization.
when go rakshak killed the bjp worker, why did you keep quiet, did u ask govt to ban go rakshak.
This clearly says their intention is communal hatred.
America enlisted RSS in one of the Biggest Terrorist organization. Assam123.com.
The agenda of banning PFI and SDPI already there since RSS is running the central govt. But its hard nuts crack.
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