Developing brain regions in children hardest hit by sleep deprivation

The effects of acute sleep deprivation in children has been the focus of new study for the first time. They discovered that the brain in five to 12-year-olds responds differently to sleep deprivation compared to adults: The reduced amount of sleep leads to an increased need for deep sleep in maturing areas of the brain. This affects posterior regions of the brain, which are involved in vision, spatial perception and processing multi-sensorial input.