Work

Social jet lag has detrimental effects on hallmark characteristics of adolescent brain structure, circuit organization, and intrinsic dynamics

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: STUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations between social jet lag and the developing adolescent brain. METHODS: N = 3507 youth (median (IQR) age = 12.0 (1.1) years; 50.9% females) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort were studied. Social jet lag (adjusted for sleep debt [SJLSC] vs. nonadjusted [SJL]), topological properties and intrinsic dynamics of resting-state networks, and morphometric brain characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: Over 35% of participants had SJLSC ≥ 2.0 h. Boys, Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic youth, and/or those at later pubertal stages had longer SJLSC (β = 0.06-0.68, CI = [0.02, 0.83], p ≤ .02), which was also associated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) (β = 0.13, CI = [0.08, 0.18], p < .01). SJLSC and SJL were associated with lower strength of thalamic connections (β = -0.22, CI = [-0.39, -0.05], p = .03). Longer SJLSC was also associated with lower topological resilience and lower connectivity of the salience network (β = -0.04, CI = [-0.08, -0.01], p = .04), and lower thickness and/or volume of structures overlapping with this and other networks supporting emotional and reward processing and social function (β =-0.08 to -0.05, CI = [-0.12, -0.01], p < .05). Longer SJL was associated with lower connectivity and efficiency of the dorsal attention network (β = -0.05, CI = [-0.10, -0.01], p < .05). Finally, SJLSC and SJL were associated with alterations in spontaneously coordinated brain activity and lower information transfer between regions supporting sensorimotor integration, social function, and emotion regulation (β = -0.07 to -0.05, CI = [-0.12, -0.01], p < .04). CONCLUSIONS: Misaligned sleep is associated with widespread alterations in adolescent brain structures, circuit organization, and dynamics of regions that play critical roles in cognitive (including social) function, and emotion and reward regulation.

Source: SLEEP

DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsaf392

Authors: Matthew Risner, Eliot S Katz, Catherine Stamoulis

Institutions: Boston Children's Hospital, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, Harvard University

Language: English

Topic: Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Science Foundation