Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Can Reverse Brain Abnormalities in Children

A new study reports that treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children normalizes disturbances in the neuronal network responsible for attention and executive function. The results were presented at the ATS 2012 International Conference in San Francisco last week.

“OSA is known to be associated with deficits in attention, cognition and executive function,” says lead author Ann Halbower, MD, associate professor at the Children’s Hospital Sleep Center and University of Colorado Denver. “Our study is the first to show that treatment of OSA in children can reverse neuronal brain injury, correlated with improvements in attention and verbal memory in these patients.” For more information, click here to read the full release.