The relation between sleep and neurocognitive development in infancy and early childhood: A neuroscience perspective
Sleep is essential for human life. It has different characteristics in the early stages of life compared to later periods: during development, qualitative and quantitative changes in sleep features occur such as the onset of REM/NREM sleep at 3 months, the progressive increase of night sleep duration, and the reduction of total sleep time. Sleep seems to be essential in the cognitive functions’ development, especially in the first period of life. Indeed, higher rates of night sleep at the age of 12 and 18 months are associated with higher executive functions’ performance.