Neurobiology of sleep in children and older adults

Sleep problems affect one third of the population and are particularly common during early life and later adulthood. At this time, during early neurodevelopment and when neural aging processes are starting to take place, the most substantial structural brain changes occur. Although it is known that sleep serves vital duties to the brain, the parallels between changes in sleep patterns and brain changes have not been thoroughly studied.
The aim of this thesis was to explore the neurobiological determinants and outcomes of sleep patterns in childhood and older adulthood. To explore temporality and directionality we conducted several longitudinal studies exploring the association between sleep patterns and neurobiological parameters in early childhood, and in older adulthood.