As director of SRI’s Human Sleep Research Program, Fiona Baker studies the complex interplay between sleep and overall health and well-being.

Much of her work has been focused on sleep patterns in adult women, but recently her attention has turned to adolescents. Adolescence is an important time for developing healthy sleep patterns because it is for brain development. In her research, Baker draws clear lines of connection between the 2.

Sleep is so vital to us all, but especially for teenagers or adolescents. Between the ages of 10 and 21, or so, and even a little bit later, the brain develops and matures in fundamental ways. By studying sleep we’re trying to grasp not only sleep as a behavior but additionally its importance for the whole brain and for lifetime well-being.”

Fiona Baker, Director of SRI’s Human Sleep Research Program

During this era, Baker explains, the brain is becoming more efficient, getting rid of-;or “pruning” in neurological terms-;brain connections which are more relevant in childhood, while strengthening more vital ones that the young person will depend on the remainder of their lives.

If a teen’s sleep patterns are lower than ideal, it could possibly affect brain development and overall health. Along with studying underlying mechanisms linking sleep, the developing brain, and health in teens, Baker’s lab can also be working to develop behavioral guidelines to assist adolescents find healthier balances.

“Sufficient, quality sleep is absolutely vital for healthy behavioral, emotional, and cognitive development in adolescents, and lack of sleep is tied to weight gain, poor cognitive development, and socioemotional difficulties,” Baker says. “We really want to grasp this era higher when it comes to sleep’s connection to those concerns.”

From an excessive amount of screentime to anxiety and alcohol use, there’s litany of familiar teenage concerns that may disrupt sleep and, by consequence, brain development. In a single recent study, she checked out bedtime screen use (phone, computer, television) in greater than 10,000 children between the ages of 10 and fourteen to uncover several interesting findings.

Greater than 1 / 4 (28%) experienced sleep disturbances, but those that had a TV or an Web-connected electronic device within the bedroom had more trouble falling and staying asleep and more overall sleep disturbance. Worse yet, those that left their ringers on overnight had it much worse than those that turned them off. Common teenage bedtime routines, resembling streaming movies, playing video games, listening to music, talking/texting on the phone, and using social media or chat rooms, were all related to greater sleep challenges.

One other study checked out how changing sleep patterns like later bedtimes and increased screen time brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic had lasting impacts on teenage sleep. Screen time increased steeply within the pandemic period as teens attended school online, wiled away free time on video games, and turned to social media to remain connected to friends. Within the study, social media use and video gaming were particularly related to shorter time in bed, later bedtimes, and delayed sleep onset.

“Sleep patterns for teens through the pandemic were dramatically different than before COVID-19,” Baker says. “These trends are each intriguing and concerning. It can be crucial to advertise teen awareness and education about higher use of screens and to assist families to develop workable media use plans for his or her kids resembling turning off all devices before bedtime and allowing a winding-down period of at the least half-hour without screens before sleep.”

A 3rd recent paper by Baker and colleagues was an observational study that tracked brain scans of a cohort of 94 teens over a four-year period taking a look at how emergent alcohol use altered sleep continuity, sleep architecture-;different parts of sleep-;and the brain’s electrical patterns as measured by EEG.

“We’re seeing that if teenagers begin to drink heavily they’ve a more disturbed sleep,” Baker says. “It’s too early to inform, nevertheless, if stopping drinking can return things to normal or if the changes persevere.”

All of Baker’s recent studies point to greater adolescent awareness of the detrimental behaviors that may impact sleep, health and well-being, in addition to to the necessity for greater parental oversight of youngster activities which are known to have a harmful effect on teen sleep. Additionally they point to the positive effects that sufficient quality sleep may need to support healthy development.

“Higher understanding of teenage sleep and its connections to overall health helps us to develop strategies to handle these troubling patterns,” Baker says. “The excellent news, nevertheless, is that the teenage brain is sort of resilient, and we’re hopeful that with behavioral adaptations we might help these kids get well and get back heading in the right direction for a lifetime of fine sleep and good health.”