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Published Sep 23, 2024

#82 - Sleep and ADHD with Dr. Jessica Lunsford-Avery

Matt Walker engages with Dr. Jessica Lunsford-Avery to explore the intricate relationship between sleep and ADHD, detailing how sleep interventions can improve cognitive function and mental health in affected children and adolescents.
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Episode Highlights

  • Cognitive Impact

    discusses how sleep impacts cognitive performance in individuals with ADHD. She explains that slow wave activity during sleep is linked to cognitive functioning, both subjectively and objectively measured 1. adds that ADHD medications can also affect sleep quality, which in turn influences cognitive abilities 2. This highlights the importance of addressing sleep issues to improve cognitive outcomes in ADHD patients.

    The objective measures of sleep that you are acquiring as you're measuring with electrodes on the head, that, of course, participants are completely unaware of. Despite that objective measurement being non conscious to the participant, it still is predictive of something when that individual wakes up that they are themselves very subjectively aware of.

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    Mental Health

    shares her journey into sleep research, driven by families' insights on the link between sleep and mental health conditions like ADHD 3. She emphasizes that sleep quality can predict daytime mental health outcomes, making it crucial to assess and treat sleep issues in ADHD patients 4. This approach can help mitigate risks like depression and anxiety.

    I fear a bad night's sleep. For her, it means mania is coming. That was it for me. I heard the need for a better understanding of links between sleep and mental health, and I heard the families asking for help, and I never looked back.

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    Health Risks

    Sleep disturbances in ADHD patients are linked to various negative health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and substance misuse 5. is developing early interventions to improve sleep in preschoolers with ADHD symptoms, aiming to alter their long-term health trajectories 6. This proactive approach could significantly improve the quality of life for individuals with ADHD.

    How great would it be if we can catch that and intervene early? Right now, we're developing and starting to get ready to evaluate a behavioral sleep intervention for preschoolers with elevated ADHD symptoms to see if we can improve not only sleep, but potentially some of these ADHD symptoms early in life.

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