Our results demonstrate the importance of a multidimensional approach when investigating the relationship between sleep spindles and memory consolidation and thereby provide a more complete picture explaining divergent findings in the literature.

Aim To examine how the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic impacts child well‐being and family functioning, particularly among children at risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. Methods Families of 73 typically developing children, 54 children born very preterm (VPT) and 73 children with congenital heart disease (CHD) from two prospective cohort studies were assessed prior to (mean age: 10.4 [SD: 1.2] years) and during (mean age: 12.8 [SD: 2.0] years) the pandemic, more specifically, in April/May 2020. Child well‐being and family functioning were assessed with validated, parent‐reported questionnaires and tested with linear mixed models. Group comparison of child distress and parental concerns related to medical implications of COVID‐19 and homeschooling, assessed with 5‐point Likert scales, was done with Mann–Whitney U tests. Results Children's psychological well‐being and family functioning (both, p < 0.001) decreased significantly during the pandemic, irrespective of group. Children with CHD were reported to be more concerned about becoming infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 than were others. Child distress due to homeschooling and parents' concerns about children's academic achievements were significantly higher in VPT and CHD children than in typically developing peers (all p < 0.001). Conclusion The COVID‐19 pandemic substantially impacts the whole family and leads to additional distress in families with children at risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. These families should receive individualised counselling and assistance from healthcare providers and schools during the pandemic.

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Background: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder affecting approximately 1% of the worldwide population. Yet, schizophrenia-like experiences (schizotypy) are very common in the healthy population, indicating a continuum between normal mental functioning and the psychosis found in schizophrenic patients. A continuum between schizotypy and schizophrenia would be supported if they share the same neurobiological origin. Two such neurobiological markers of schizophrenia are: (1) a reduction of sleep spindles (12-15 Hz oscillations during nonrapid eye movement sleep), likely reflecting deficits in thalamocortical circuits and (2) increased glutamine and glutamate (Glx) levels in the thalamus. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether sleep spindles and Glx levels are related to schizotypal personality traits in healthy subjects. Methods: Twenty young male subjects underwent 2 all-night sleep electroencephalography recordings (128 electrodes). Sleep spindles were detected automatically. After those 2 nights, thalamic Glx levels were measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Subjects completed a magical ideation scale to assess schizotypy. Results: Sleep spindle density was negatively correlated with magical ideation (r = −.64, P < .01) and thalamic Glx levels (r = −.70, P < .005). No correlation was found between Glx levels in the thalamus and magical ideation (r = .12, P > .1). Conclusions: The common relationship of sleep spindle density with schizotypy and thalamic Glx levels indicates a neurobiological overlap between nonclinical schizotypy and schizophrenia. Thus, sleep spindle density and magical ideation may reflect the anatomy and efficiency of the thalamo-cortical system that shows pronounced impairment in patients with schizophrenia.

Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) may be at increased risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. Long-term behavioral profiles and respective risk factors are less frequently described. The aim of this study was to evaluate multidimensional behavioral outcomes and associated medical, psychological, and social risk factors in children with complex CHD. At 10-years of age, 125 children with CHD were assessed for general behavioral difficulties, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behavior, and social interaction problems and were compared to normative data. Medical and cardiac factors, IQ, maternal mental health at 4 years of age and parental socioeconomic status were tested as predictors for all behavioral outcomes. Children with CHD showed no significant differences in general behavioral difficulties. However, increased ADHD-related symptoms (p &lt; 0.05) and difficulties in social interaction (p &lt; 0.05) were observed. In 23% of the children, a combination of ADHD-related symptoms and social interaction problems was reported by parents. In multivariate analyses, IQ (p &lt; 0.01) and maternal mental health (p &lt; 0.03) at 4 years of age were found to be predictive for all behavioral outcomes at 10 years while medical and cardiac risk factors were not. Our findings reveal significant difficulties in ADHD-related symptoms and social interaction problems with a significant comorbidity. Behavioral difficulties were not detected with a screening tool but with disorder-specific questionnaires. Furthermore, we demonstrate the importance of maternal mental health during early childhood on later behavioral outcomes of children with CHD. This underlines the importance of identifying and supporting parents with mental health issues at an early stage in order to support the family and improve the child's neurodevelopment.

This study provides evidence that alterations of overnight changes of NREM-sleep slow waves during active ESES are reversible when ESES resolves, and that the severity of neuropsychological compromise might be related to the extent of slow wave impairment during ESES. Our findings suggest that analysis of slow waves might serve as a prognostic factor regarding cognitive outcome. ESES may serve as disease model of pathologic slow wave sleep and our results might be expanded to epilepsies with spike wave activation in slow wave sleep not only in children but also in adults.

The formation of resting-state functional networks in infancy has been reported to be strongly impacted by very preterm birth. Studies in childhood and adolescence have largely focused on language processing networks and identified both decreased and increased functional connectivity. It is unclear, however, whether functional connectivity strength is altered globally in children and adolescents born very preterm and whether these alterations are related to the frequently occurring cognitive deficits. Here, resting-state functional MRI was assessed in a group of 32 school-aged children and adolescents born very preterm with normal intellectual and motor abilities and 39 healthy term-born peers. Functional connectivity within and between a comprehensive set of well-established resting-state networks was compared between the groups. IQ and executive function abilities were tested with standardized tasks and potential associations with connectivity strength were explored. Functional connectivity was weaker in the very preterm compared to the term-born group between the sensorimotor network and the visual and dorsal attention network, within the sensorimotor network and within the central executive network. In contrast, functional connectivity was stronger in the very preterm group between the sensorimotor network and parts of the salience and the central executive network. Little evidence was found that these alterations underlie lower IQ or poorer executive function abilities. This study provides evidence for a long-lasting impact of very preterm birth on the organization of resting-state networks. The potential consequence of these alterations for other neurodevelopmental domains than the ones investigated in the current study warrants further investigation.

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, and patients are at risk for neurodevelopmental impairment and brain abnormalities. Yet, little is known about the link between brain volumes and cognitive function in adults with congenital heart disease. Forty-four patients and 53 controls between 18 and 32 years underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive testing, assessed with an intelligence quotient and executive function global score. Associations between brain volumes and cognitive function were calculated using linear models. Cognitive function in patients was within the normal range (intelligence quotient: 97.74 (10.76)). Total brain volume was significantly smaller in patients compared to controls (1067.26 (113.53) vs 1113.04 (97.88) cm3, P < 0.01), irrespective of cardiac factors (heart defect complexity, cyanosis, cardiopulmonary bypass: all P > 0.4). After adjusting for total brain volume, only corpus callosum volume remained significantly smaller (P = 0.03). Smaller total brain volume was associated with poorer overall executive functioning (P = 0.02) and inhibition (P < 0.01), in both patients and controls. The association between total brain volume and overall executive functioning was moderated by parental socioeconomic status (lower socioeconomic status was associated with a stronger association between brain volume and EF; interaction P = 0.03). In adults with congenital heart disease, despite normal intelligence quotient, brain volume alterations persist into adulthood and are related to executive functioning, in particular inhibitory control. Adults coming from low socioeconomic background and with altered brain volumes are especially vulnerable and should thus be followed-up during adulthood to ensure optimal social and educational support.