Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Adv Child Dev Behav. 2021;60:9-27. doi: 10.1016/bs.acdb.2020.11.003. Epub 2021 Jan 29.
Sleep is essential for human life. It has different characteristics in the early stages of life compared to later periods: during development, qualitative and quantitative changes in sleep features occur such as the onset of REM/NREM sleep at 3 months, the progressive increase of night sleep duration, and the reduction of total sleep time. Sleep seems to be essential in the cognitive functions' development, especially in the first period of life. Indeed, higher rates of night sleep at the age of 12 and 18 months are associated with higher executive functions' performance. Furthermore, memory consolidation occurs during sleep and sleep contributes to children's learning not only in retaining information but also in organizing memories most efficiently. Therefore, sleep problems could cause negative effects on some features of cognitive development like memory, executive functions, and learning process. There is also an intimate relationship between sleep and regulation of emotional brain functions, with a link between sleep disturbance and behavioral problems.
睡眠对人类生命至关重要。与后期相比，生命早期的睡眠具有不同的特征：在发育过程中，睡眠特征会发生质和量的变化，例如在 3 个月时出现 REM/NREM 睡眠，夜间睡眠时间逐渐增加，总睡眠时间减少。睡眠似乎对认知功能的发展至关重要，尤其是在生命的早期阶段。事实上，12 个月和 18 个月时较高的夜间睡眠时间与较高的执行功能表现相关。此外，睡眠期间会进行记忆巩固，睡眠不仅有助于儿童保留信息，还有助于他们最有效地组织记忆，从而促进学习。因此，睡眠问题可能会对认知发展的某些特征（如记忆、执行功能和学习过程）产生负面影响。睡眠与情绪大脑功能的调节之间也存在密切关系，睡眠障碍与行为问题之间存在关联。
