Network Analysis on Overnight EEG Spectrum to Assess Relationships Between Paediatric Sleep Apnoea and Cognition

摘要

One major risk of paediatric sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS) is the development of cognitive impairments among affected children. Electroencephalography (EEG) is ordinarily used as part of polysomnography, the standard diagnostic test for SAHS. However, how SAHS changes overnight EEG, and its relationships with cognitive performance, remains unclear. In this study, we first analyzed the spectral content of EEG recordings from 294 children to explore possible differences caused by SAHS. Then, a correlation network analysis was conducted to evaluate relationships among different EEG spectral bands and the results from the Differential Ability Scales (DAS) battery of cognitive tests. Our analyses identified up to six new SAHS spectral bands of interest in the EEG. They also showed higher absolute correlations among the different spectral bands as SAHS severity increased. Higher SAHS severity degree also indicated higher absolute correlations with DAS tests. Our results suggest that the spectral content of the overnight EEG is useful to characterize both paediatric SAHS and the cognitive performance of the affected children.