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| Dr Sarah Biggs |
Improving academic and behavioural problems among children
who snore is the aim of new research at MIMR-PHI Institute and the Department
of Paediatrics.
Approximately 1 million Australian children have trouble
breathing at night which can manifest as simple snoring, right up to severe
sleep apnoea where a child stops breathing for short periods of time.
“Children who snore
are at as much risk of cognitive, academic and behavioural problems as children
with severe sleep apnoea,” said the Ritchie Centre’s NHMRC Peter Doherty
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Sarah Biggs.
“However, we have no plausible explanation for why this is
the case, as children who snore do not experience sleep disruption or oxygen
desaturation like children with sleep apnoea.”
Dr Biggs has been awarded a highly competitive US Sleep
Research Society (SRS) Foundation Early Career Development Research Award for
her project "Identifying pathways for new treatment strategies for
children with primary snoring".
The funding of nearly A$100,000 will allow Dr Biggs to carry
out home sleep studies and psychological testing in 75 children over the next
year.
“My study will
separate the behavioural influence on learning from actual learning potential
through an assessment method called ‘sleep-dependent learning’” said Dr Biggs.
Dr Biggs’ research
involves children learning a task (for example, a list of words or a sequence
of movements) just before bed, and then testing how well they retain the
information during the night.
“Sleep is essential
for memory consolidation so if sleep is disrupted, memory is also disrupted.”
Dr Biggs hopes that her research will provide an
understanding of whether the academic problems seen in these children are the
result of behaviour problems, rather than their sleep; and will allow for
targeted behavioural treatment interventions.
“If children who
snore have intact potential to learn, behavioural interventions may help them
perform better at school,” added Dr Biggs.
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