For young children, a lack of sleep has detrimental effects on brain development, according to a recent study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  "Because early adolescence is a crucial period for neurocognitive development, we aimed to investigate how insufficient sleep affects children's mental health, cognition, brain function, and brain structure over 2 years," wrote the researchers.  The study revealed that a lack of sleep among elementary school-age children leads to significant differences in brain regions that are responsible for memory, intelligence and well-being.  These...