Times of India, Scienceblog - Moderate sleep loss impairs vigilance and sustained attention in children with ADHD

A new study in the March 1 issue of the journal Sleep indicates that the ability of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to remain vigilant and attentive deteriorated significantly after losing less than one hour of nightly sleep for a week.

The study suggests that even moderate reductions in sleep duration can affect neurobehavioral functioning, which may have a negative impact on the academic performance of children with ADHD…

“Moderate sleep restriction leads to a detectable negative impact on the neurobehavioral functioning of children with ADHD and healthy controls, leading to a clinical level of impairment in children with ADHD,” said lead author and principal investigator Reut Gruber, PhD, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at McGill University and director of the Attention, Behavior and Sleep Laboratory at Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal, Québec.