Impacto del sueño sobre el rendimiento cognitivo y escolar en niños con trastorno por déficit de atención e hiperactividad

Resumen

Sleep is an essential function for survival. Sleep problems, however, are some of the major public health challenges given their high impact on daily life. In childhood, when the brain is developing, sleep is crucial not only for a good performance in school, but also to avoid cognitive and emotional problems that persist into adulthood. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common disorders in childhood, and is related to difficulties in cognitive performance and academic functioning. In addition, ADHD has associated sleep problems, which can impact negatively on the symptomatology of the disorder and daily performance. However, previous studies published on this respect have some methodological shortcomings that have hampered to clarify the real situation these children face. On the one hand, the use of objective and subjective measures has generated contradictory and inconsistent results. On the other hand, very few studies have taken into account the symptomatology of ADHD (predominance symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, or combined) to study sleep in these children. Regarding specific sleep events, there is also no study available that reports data on characteristic oscillations in stage 2 sleep (sleep spindles). However, spindles are related to learning and memory consolidation, two very important cognitive functions in ADHD. Finally, there is no study available that reports the impact that sleep characteristics have on both cognitive and school functioning of these children.