- Routine has been associated with children getting more sleep, researchers say
- Sleeping less has been linked to thinner brain regions linked to behavior
For many parents, it can be difficult to maintain a regular routine with young children.
But eating as a family, playing regularly and going to bed at a strict time could help boost brain development, according to a new study.
Researchers have found that regular family routines are linked to children getting more sleep each night.
And this has been associated with better brain structure and emotional processing during their formative years.
Experts from Colorado State University analyzed data collected from 94 children ages five to nine from diverse backgrounds.
Researchers found that a strict bedtime could help boost your child’s brain development. Those who slept less were more likely to have thinner regions of the brain related to language, behavioral control, sensory perception, and a smaller volume of a part of the brain related to processing emotions.
They carefully measured the children’s brain structure using MRI scans, and parents were asked about their children’s sleep duration and family routines.
Questions about family routines included whether children did the same things every morning when they woke up, whether parents had regular playtime with their children after returning home from work, whether parents read or told stories to their children regularly. , if the children went to bed. at the same time almost every night and if the family ate together (and at the same time) every night.
The analysis revealed that less frequent family routines were significantly related to shorter sleep during the week.
Shorter sleep, in turn, was associated with changes in the child’s brain structure.
Those who slept less were more likely to have thinner regions of the brain related to language, behavioral control, sensory perception, and a smaller volume of a part of the brain related to processing emotions.
Dr Emily Merz, who led the study, said: “Shorter sleep duration was significantly associated with reduced cortical thickness in the frontal, temporal and parietal regions and with smaller volume of the amygdala, a region of the brain key to the processing of emotions.
The researchers said children from low-income families and whose parents had lower levels of education were more likely to get less sleep.
“We also found that consistency in family routines significantly mediated these associations,” Dr. Merz added.
An analysis by Colorado State University found that less frequent family routines, including not eating regular meals as a family, were significantly related to shorter sleep during the week.
“This could imply that socioeconomic disadvantage interferes with the consistency of family routines, potentially increasing children’s stress and reducing their sleep time, which in turn affects brain development.”
The team said their research, published in the journal Brain and Behavior, could inform programs that help children sleep consistently during this key age.
“Our findings suggest that sleep deprivation may be associated not only with brain structure but also with the function of brain circuits that process emotions in children,” Dr. Merz added.
“This possibly explains why lack of sleep leads to increased susceptibility to negative emotions. Although most studies on sleep development have focused on adolescents, this research underscores the need to assess and support children’s sleep health before adolescence.’
Separate research, to be presented this week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Denver, explores how lack of sleep in teenagers affects the way their brain works.
Scientists at the North Carolina Academy of Sciences found that teenagers who slept a full eight hours had better cognitive scores compared to those who slept only six hours and had been on their phones.