Age and gender-related neurophysiological changes in sleep and wake states during childhood

Article Article scientifique Article Age and gender-related neurophysiological changes in sleep and wake states during childhood eng 2026-01-21 author Mammeri Kevin Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Kevin.Mammeri@unige.ch. 895110 Département de psychiatrie (PSYAT) author Legendre Guillaume Yann Théodore 0000-0002-7590-2573 Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Guillaume.Legendre@unige.ch. 807026 Département de neurosciences fondamentales (NEUFO) author Journal Fiona 0009-0001-8269-3765 Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Fiona.Journal@unige.ch. 869794 Département de psychiatrie (PSYAT) author Fernandez Nathalie Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Nathalie.Fernandez@psychologie.ch. 850927 author Ruppen Hélène Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Helene.Ruppen@psychologie.ch. 763603 author Combey Joanny Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Joanny.Combey@cceaf.ch. 818246 author Schwartz Sophie 0000-0001-7718-4053 Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Sophie.Schwartz@unige.ch. 35633 Département de neurosciences fondamentales (NEUFO) author Sterpenich Virginie 0000-0002-2125-833X Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Science, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Virginie.Sterpenich@unige.ch. 685195 Services communs du CISA (EMCO) 101681 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101681 41579785 1878-9293 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929326000137 Brain maturation and sleep patterns evolve throughout childhood, intricately influencing cognitive functions. However, it remains unclear whether changes in sleep and cognition follow similar or distinct trajectories as a function of age and gender during childhood. We included 61 healthy children (30 boys and 31 girls), aged 5-12 years old, who completed a visual memory task and a sustained attention to response task (SART), before and after undergoing one night of polysomnography at home. Our findings revealed large age-related associations in girls, with N3 and REM durations decreasing and sleep spindle frequency during N2 increasing across development. Conversely, these patterns were not observed in boys. Moreover, a significant interaction showed a shift in delta power topography from posterior to anterior regions in girls compared to boys. Alongside these sleep changes, girls exhibited a predominant excitatory pattern of brain activity during wakefulness as evidenced by a reduction in resting EEG slope. Regarding cognition, we found a large correlation between the increase in sleep spindle frequency in girls and morning accuracy on the SART. Overnight memory consolidation did not vary with age or gender. Taken together, these findings suggest an earlier onset of brain maturation in girls, reflected by less deep sleep, faster sleep spindles, frontal shift in delta power, and greater cortical excitability during wakefulness. This pattern in girls challenges the notion that developmental modifications of sleep are minimal during childhood. How closely may these changes relate to puberty or timing remain to be established in future longitudinal studies. Aperiodic signal Children EEG Gender Sleep Dewey 128.37 Dewey 616.8 Swiss National Science Foundation Deciphering the neural impact of sleep loss on metacognition and empathic judgments for pain in others 182589 CH 15 Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives 0D8 53 Département de neurosciences fondamentales 21A false 495 Neuroimagerie du Sommeil et de la Cognition 832 1360 Autism Brain and Behavior Lab 1033 Developmental cognitive neuroscience 78 cb2c559d-bfd8-4a56-a80c-f91f2442bb33 Article (Published version) Public Age_and_gender-related_neurophysiol.pdf 3809389 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 a9ba6cee2092dd8f8ede7cd0387bd02ad2e26d35cfe64e7e8b16c4d814d96126 6f524e0f-45ff-4394-b612-4ce663e97275 Supplemental data Public 1-s2.0-S1878929326000137-mmc1-1.docx 11692458 application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document 1b3335de97be30c173847b8f02b9ac1b04446e74bf3d1e834a428dbfcd511611 openAccess Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine fondamentale / Département de neurosciences fondamentales

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Age and gender-related neurophysiological changes in sleep and wake states during childhood	Developmental cognitive neuroscience	2026	6	17
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Fernandez, Nathalie