Writing in the Aug. 22 issue of the global online journal Public Library of Science Medicine, John Hopkins investigators say they compared 19 children with severe obstructive sleep apnea to 12 children without the disorder and identified brain changes between the two groups. Next, they were able to link the changes in the two brain structures to deficits in neuropsychological performance, such as attention, learning, and working memory.

They concluded: “This should be a wake-up call to both parents and doctors that undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea might hurt children’s brains.”