Project Details
Supervisor
Project area or title
Understanding the consequences of severe obstructive sleep apnoea in children on mental health and the brain
Description
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), which is growing in prevalence in the childhood population, is associated with sleep fragmentation, sleep deprivation and intermittent hypoxemia. OSA may be associated with reduced cognitive performance which impacts on scholastic achievement, and mental health, but relationships between sleep parameters, daytime sleepiness, cognition and health in children are poorly understood. This project involves sleep phenotyping (using polysomnography), understanding the burden of mental health difficulties in this group of children with standardised scores, and brain imaging in children with OSA. We aim to identify changes in brain haemodynamics or connectivity as mechanisms underlying neuro-cognitive alterations, which may have implications for mental health and development. This will form the basis for future studies looking at the impact of interventions for OSA on brain health.
Theme
Children, Young People & Perinatal Mental Health
University
University of Nottingham
Specific Project Eligibility
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/course/research/2023/medicine-phd