Sleep variability in adolescence is associated with altered brain development

• Daily sleep was measured 1.5 years and a few months prior to a DTI scan.
• Sleep variability in adolescence was associated with lower FA.
• Sleep duration in adolescence was not associated with FA.
• Sleep variability may have lasting impact on brain development.

Despite the known importance of sleep for brain development, and the sharp increase in poor sleep during adolescence, we know relatively little about how sleep impacts the developing brain. We present the first longitudinal study to examine how sleep during adolescence is associated with white matter integrity. We find that greater variability in sleep duration one year prior to a DTI scan is associated with lower white matter integrity above and beyond the effects of sleep duration, and variability in bedtime, whereas sleep variability a few months prior to the scan is not associated with white matter integrity. Thus, variability in sleep duration during adolescence may have long-term impairments on the developing brain. White matter integrity should be increasing during adolescence, and so sleep variability is directly at odds with normative developmental trends.