Sleep correlates of brain network activation and clinical measures in youth American football players

Insufficient sleep can alter cognitive function and increase symptom reporting. We hypothesized that average sleep duration in youth American football players would correlate with higher‐level processing event‐related potentials (ERPs), symptom reporting, and objective measures of cognitive function on neuropsychological testing. We performed a prospective observational cohort study with 70 middle school and 64 high school American football players. Subjects completed preseason baseline assessments, including paper‐pencil and computerized neuropsychological testing, a symptom scale, a neurological evaluation including self‐reported sleep characteristics, and a Brain Network Activation (BNA) auditory oddball task assessing ERP activity. There was a correlation between shorter sleep duration and decreased capacity for memory and attention based on ERP amplitudes and latencies. Additionally, subjects with short sleep reported more “balance problems” and “sensitivity to noise,” and feeling less “nervous or anxious” compared to subjects reporting recommended sleep. High school subjects with short sleep were also more likely to have a diagnosis of headache or migraine. There were no differences between the short and recommended sleep groups on neuropsychological testing. BNA may be a more sensitive measure of cognition than neuropsychological testing or standard clinical evaluation, detecting pre‐clinical markers of decreased memory and attention capacity in athletes with short sleep duration.