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Study Explores Link Between Lack Of Sleep, School

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― When you're sleepy, learning new things can be hard, as parents can tell you.

"I have two seven year olds who are going in second grade this year," says Curt Johnson of Plum Boro. "I think it does affect their attention span at school and what they bring home, and remembering what the homework assignment actually was."

If a breathing problem is keeping your child from sleeping, poor school performance can become a chronic issue.

Children can be drowsy because of breathing problems during sleep, like snoring or obstructive sleep apnea, where tissue actually blocks the breathing passages at the back of the throat. They may have a harder time learning, but why is the focus of research.

Studies in this area haven't been able to answer why the brain responds that way. A study from the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine shows that oxygen is not the right answer.

Researchers used external sensors to measure brain oxygen levels, thinking they would be lower in kids with sleep breathing problems, which could then explain their troubles at school.

For snorers, the oxygen levels were lower, possibly because snoring may increase certain brain activity, which uses up more oxygen.

"It may reflect some of the inherent adjustments that the brain is actually making," says Dr. Sangeeta Chakravorty, a sleep specialist at Children's Hospital.

But for children with obstructive sleep apnea, the oxygen levels were actually higher related to their blood pressures being higher, too -- all part of the complex way the body regulates itself.

So this study shows it's not the brain oxygen levels alone to blame for poor concentration and the relationship between breathing problems during sleeping and trouble thinking is far from clear.

"We all know people who have snored for years, including children, who seem to be functioning fine," says Dr. Chakravorty. She mentions some research going on right now is looking at sleep fragmentation -- where sleep is frequently interrupted -- and seeing what kind of effect that has on thinking abilities.

The whole idea may be shifting that the brain alone does all the thinking. It looks like it may need the heart and blood vessels for help, too.

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