Objectives

Although hearing has been shown to interact with sleep, the underlying mechanisms for the interaction remain largely unclear. In the absence of knowledge about the neural pathways that are associated with hearing-sleep interaction, this study aimed to examine whether the auditory radiation, the final portion of the auditory pathway from the cochlea to the cerebral cortex, shows association with sleep duration. 

Methods

Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data from enhanced Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample (NKI-RS), we isolated the white matter tracts between the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus and Heschl’s gyrus in each individual subject (N = 465) using probabilistic tractography. As a measure of the white matter microstructure integrity, the mean fractional anisotropy (FA) of the whole auditory radiation was examined and tested for an association with sleep length in the Pittsburgh Sleep Assessment Index. 

Results

A significant inverse-U shaped association was found between the auditory radiation FA and sleep duration.

Discussion

It is suggested that the auditory radiations are a part of the pathway mediating the sleep-hearing interaction. Although the current study does not resolve the causal relationship between hearing and sleep, it would be the first evidence that the auditory radiation is associated with sleep duration

中文翻译：

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睡眠时间长短与听觉辐射的微结构有关。

目标

尽管已显示听力与睡眠相互作用，但相互作用的潜在机制仍不清楚。在缺乏关于与听觉-睡眠相互作用相关的神经途径的知识的情况下，本研究旨在检查听觉辐射（即从耳蜗到大脑皮层的听觉途径的最后部分）是否与睡眠时间相关。 

方法

使用来自增强的Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland样本（NKI-RS）的弥散张量成像（DTI）数据，我们使用概率方法分离了每个个体受试者（N = 465）的丘脑内侧膝状核和Heschl回回之间的白质束。影像学。作为白质微观结构完整性的一种度量，在匹兹堡睡眠评估指数中检查并测试了整个听觉辐射的平均分数各向异性（FA），并确定其与睡眠时间的相关性。 

结果

在听觉辐射FA和睡眠时间之间发现了明显的倒U型关联。

讨论区

建议听觉辐射是介导睡眠-听觉相互作用的途径的一部分。尽管当前的研究尚未解决听力与睡眠之间的因果关系，但这将是听觉辐射与睡眠时间有关的第一个证据