Yamashita Masatoshi, Shou Qiulu, Mizuno Yoshifumi
Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, United Graduate School of Child Development, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan.
Front Integr Neurosci. 2024 Aug 7;18:1437585. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2024.1437585. eCollection 2024.
Chronotype refers to individual preference in circadian cycles and is associated with psychiatric problems. It is mainly classified into early (those who prefer to be active in the morning and sleep and wake up early) and late (those who prefer to be active in the evening and sleep and wake up late) chronotypes. Although previous research has demonstrated associations between chronotype and cognitive function and brain structure in adults, little is known regarding these associations in children. Here, we aimed to investigate the relationship between chronotype and cognitive function in children. Moreover, based on the significant association between chronotype and specific cognitive functions, we extracted regions-of-interest (ROI) and examined the association between chronotype and ROI volumes.
Data from 4,493 children (mean age of 143.06 months) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study were obtained, wherein chronotype (mid-sleep time on free days corrected for sleep debt on school days) was assessed by the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire. Subsequently, the associations between chronotype, cognitive function, and ROI volumes were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models.
Behaviorally, chronotype was negatively associated with vocabulary knowledge, reading skills, and episodic memory performance. Based on these associations, the ROI analysis focused on language-related and episodic memory-related areas revealed a negative association between chronotype and left precentral gyrus and right posterior cingulate cortex volumes. Furthermore, the precentral gyrus volume was positively associated with vocabulary knowledge and reading skills, while the posterior cingulate cortex volume was positively associated with episodic memory performance.
These results suggest that children with late chronotype have lower language comprehension and episodic memory and smaller brain volumes in the left precentral gyrus and right posterior cingulate cortex associated with these cognitive functions.
昼夜节律类型是指个体在昼夜节律周期中的偏好，与精神问题相关。它主要分为早起型（喜欢在早晨活跃，早睡早起）和晚睡型（喜欢在晚上活跃，晚睡晚起）。尽管先前的研究已经证明了成年人的昼夜节律类型与认知功能和脑结构之间的关联，但对于儿童的这些关联却知之甚少。在此，我们旨在研究儿童的昼夜节律类型与认知功能之间的关系。此外，基于昼夜节律类型与特定认知功能之间的显著关联，我们提取了感兴趣区域（ROI），并研究了昼夜节律类型与ROI体积之间的关联。
我们获取了来自青少年大脑认知发展研究的4493名儿童（平均年龄143.06个月）的数据，其中昼夜节律类型（根据上学日的睡眠债校正后的休息日的中间睡眠时间）通过慕尼黑昼夜节律问卷进行评估。随后，使用线性混合效应模型评估昼夜节律类型、认知功能和ROI体积之间的关联。
在行为方面，昼夜节律类型与词汇知识、阅读技能和情景记忆表现呈负相关。基于这些关联，针对语言相关和情景记忆相关区域的ROI分析显示，昼夜节律类型与左侧中央前回和右侧后扣带回皮质体积呈负相关。此外，中央前回体积与词汇知识和阅读技能呈正相关，而后扣带回皮质体积与情景记忆表现呈正相关。
这些结果表明，晚睡型儿童的语言理解和情景记忆能力较低，且与这些认知功能相关的左侧中央前回和右侧后扣带回皮质的脑体积较小。
