Artículo de revista
Nighttime sleep characteristics and white matter integrity in young adults
Fecha
2022Registro en:
Nature and Science of Sleep 2022:14 1363–1373
10.2147/NSS.S360311
Autor
Reyes García, Sussanne Carola
Medeiros Rimkus, Carolina de
Lozoff, Betsy
Algarin Crespo, Cecilia Rosa
Peirano Campos, Patricio Darío
Institución
Resumen
Purpose: Sleep is essential for life and plays a key role for optimal physiology, brain functioning, and health. Evidence suggests
a relation between sleep and cerebral white matter integrity. Human studies report that sleep duration shows a U-shaped association
with brain functioning. We hypothesized that participants with longer or shorter sleep time in the nighttime period show altered
microstructural white matter integrity Participants and Methods: Seventy-three young adult participants were evaluated. Sleep-wake cycle parameters were assessed
objectively using actigraphy. Diffusion tensor imaging studies were performed to assess white matter integrity using fractional
anisotropy and mean, axial, and radial diffusivities. Relations between white matter microstructure indexes and sleep parameters
were investigated through tract-based spatial statistics. Participants were grouped according to their nocturnal total sleep time: 27 in
the Reference sleep group (6.5–8.0 h), 23 in the Short sleep group (<6.5 h) and 23 in the Long sleep group (>8.0 h). Results: Compared with the Reference sleep group, participants in the Long sleep group showed lower fractional anisotropy (p <
0.05) and higher radial diffusivity (p < 0.05) values in white matter tracts linked to sleep regulation (corona radiata, body of the corpus
callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and anterior thalamic radiation). Conclusion: This pattern of reduced fractional anisotropy and increased radial diffusivity in the Long sleep group indicates an
association between sleep duration and lower integrity of myelin sheaths. Because myelin is continuously remodeled in the brain,
nighttime sleep characteristics appear to be a key player for its quality and maintenance