Down Syndrome Awareness Month October 2025: Dr Goffredina Spano on sleep as a missing piece in Down syndrome research

Thanks to Dr Spano for this message during Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

I'm Goffredina Spano, I'm a senior lecturer at Kingstown University. My research program explores the relationship between sleep and different outcomes, including cognition in different neurodevelopmental conditions, including Down syndrome.

My journey with Down syndrome started long time ago in 2004, when Julia was born. During that time, I was doing my Masters in psychology, and I was trying to look at different aspect of cognition. During that time, and during that work, I realized that something very important was missing in our equation of understanding the development of individuals and people with Down syndrome: and that missing piece was sleep.

This realization pushed me to go and look elsewhere. I was very lucky: there was a group at the University of Arizona that had just started a very interesting study looking at the relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea and different cognitive outcomes in children with Down syndrome. I took the this opportunity, flew to the University of Arizona, and joined their group. Since then, we have been looking at different aspects of sleep in children with Down syndrome across their lifespan in relation to different aspects of life, quality of life, and behaviour.

We now know that sleep isn't just a time where the brain rest. We actually take care of all the things that we cannot do while we're awake. This is very important when we think about neurodevelopmental conditions like Down syndrome, because during this period, we actually put together all the information that we learn during the day. We integrate new information. If you don't sleep well, as is the case for children with Down syndrome, this integration doesn't happen. This is what we found in a previous study, in terms of memory consolidation in children with Down syndrome, who were not using the sleep interval to remember in the same way as their neurotypical peers. This means that even the best educational and behavioural interventions might not be as effective as they can be, if we do not address sleep problems in this population.

Addressing sleep isn't just about getting a good night’s sleep. It's about supporting learning, development, and well-being in this population. That's why I'm very proud of to be part of the Down Syndrome Sleep Research Network, where we come together, (researcher, clinician, and different people) to share knowledge, advance research - and ultimately, the goal is improving sleep and other outcomes in people with Down syndrome. Thank you!

You can find out more about Dr Spano’s academic work at this link.