When it comes to psychology, there are many things that tie into how the brain functions
and why the brain functions that way. One thing that is critical for the brain is development.
Development is the growth of something and without growth, the brain cannot reach its full
potential. A factor that ties into brain development is sleep. Sleep is important so the brain can
increase its capability of growing as we learned in chapter 5 of psychology. Discovering the
necessity of sleep, scientist have taken a step forward and did studies on when the average
person should get the most amount of sleep. Studies show that the quantity of sleep you get in
your infant years have a large impact on how your brain functions and develops. This literature
review focuses on the effects of infant sleep duration on brain development.
The length of sleep an infant gets can have positive effects on the brain. 11-to 13-month-
old infants who have a longer time to sleep at night had better cognitive problem-solving skills
growing up (Jiang, 2019). This is important because infants who had more sleep were better at
problem-solving skills. These skills can include analysis skills, communication skills, creativity
skills, research skills, and brainstorming skills. With these abilities, it can help the infant in the
long run-in real-world places like school or work. There are other benefits on brain development
that results from longer amounts of sleep. Language development, literacy, child emotional and
behavioral regulations, and family function are shown to increase in well rested infants when
they grow older (Mindell, Williamson, 2018). This is important because other parts of the brain
like our speech and emotions are shown to be better developed in infants who have a well-
organized sleep schedule which evidently benefits the infant in future years. There are studies on
how to properly ensure that an infant is getting the right amount of sleep. The goal is to establish
routines, schedules, and pre-sleep routines to help an infant better function throughout the day
, (Bathrory, Tomopoulos, 2017). This is important because if an infant is on a set routine, this can
help the infant get the allotted time needed at night to sleep which evidently will give the infant
more time to sleep. If parents implement this lifestyle for their children early on, children as they
grow up will see the positive results on the development of their brains through the way they
function and think.
Like always, where there is a positive there is also a negative. When infants have an
irregular sleep schedule and lack adequate amounts of sleep, it can lead to negative consequences
as they mature into later ages. One major concern that was studied was the prevention of
childhood obesity. Although there are factors like genetics that cannot be controlled when it
comes to obesity, there are factors that can be regulated to reduce the amount of childhood
obesity. When an infant lacks sleep, they are not giving themselves enough energy for the body.
The infant’s body ultimately does not have enough energy to digest food resulting to a factor of
obesity. Also, infants who lack sleep and grow up with an irregular sleep schedule are not
motivated to get active which leads to obesity (Taheri, 2006). This is important because sleep is
supposed to be a rejuvenation for children. If an infant grows up with a poor sleep schedule and
loses the necessary amounts of sleep needed at that young age, it can lead to health problems that
result from obesity like diabetes or high blood pressure or high cholesterol. There is a study
where nurses analyze the biobehavioral responses of infant’s sleep-wake states. The
Electroencephalography showed that sleeping and waking evolve as the brain develops neural
structures and connections for cyclical synchronization with other physiologic mechanisms like
heartbeat and thermoregulation (Allen, 2013). This explains why neonates and infants sleep for
longer periods of time, it is because their mind is making those new connections and developing
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