Disturbed cerebral white matter network topological mediate the symptom severity and cognition in children with obstructive sleep apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children can cause deficits in cognition. The purpose of this study was to explore the underlying mechanisms of OSA-related cognitive impairment by investigating the altered topology of brain white matter networks in children with OSA. Based on graph theory and mediating effects analysis, we discovered that OSA had significantly higher global assortativity than control group, and that the nodal clustering coefficients of temporal lobes mediated the relationship between the symptom severity of OSA and the verbal comprehension index. Our findings provided a further neuroimaging evidence of impaired cognitive function in children with OSA.