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Adults with disrupted sleep as babies likely to develop autism, warns study
Quality sleep is crucial for mental and physical health at every stage of life. However, disrupted sleep is said to affect babies more negatively than adults.
A recent study links poor sleeping habits in children to a greater risk of developing autism in adulthood, a mental health condition that affects over 5 million Americans.
Children are more vulnerable to negative impact of poor sleep
The Diering lab behind the study that examines the negative effects of disturbed sleep, conducted another experiment on mice to better understand the impact of poor sleep on children vs adults.
While closely monitoring specialized mouse houses, the scientists noticed that adult mice that lost a significant amount of sleep would make up for the lost rest by sleeping later during regular active hours.
They termed the phenomenon a “sleep rebound”, which allowed the adults to get adequate sleep, despite disturbances in the regular sleep cycle.
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The young mice on the other hand “lacked sleep rebound entirely”, making them more vulnerable to the unpleasant consequences of poor sleep.
The lack of sleep significantly affected the brain development in younger mice and completely impaired their performance in a learning memory task, notes the study.
Poor sleep linked to autism in adults
The initial study by the Diering lab found that babies or children who slept little faced a greater risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as adult
As sleep plays a crucial role from the moment we are born, the lack of sleep in babies affects brain development important for learning, attention, working memory, and long-term memory.
The study notes: “Sleep allows these neurons to develop and connect with one another, establishing brain functions for the remainder of life.”
The findings showed that sleep loss during early development can “negatively interact with underlying genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder.”
Autism isn’t an illness, but a mental health condition that affects an individual’s behavior and social skills. According to the Cleveland Clinic, behavioral therapies and other support can help autistic kids and adults overcome challenges caused by the condition.
Although the study presented above links poor sleep in the early stages of life to autism, the exact cause of the condition is unknown.
