Sleep
Conditions
Brief summary
The goal of this research is to understand the role of sleep on memory function in early childhood. Specifically, we seek to examine how promoted naps vs. promoted waking in habitual and non-habitual napping children may impact overnight sleep physiology and subsequent memory consolidation.
Detailed description
With time spent awake, sleepiness increases (i.e., sleep pressure; Borbely, 1982). In young adults, naps following sleep deprivation have significantly elevated slow wave activity (SWA; 1-4 Hz) relative to naps following normal overnight sleep (Werth et al., 1996). Similarly in preschool children, overnight sleep following nap deprivation yields significantly greater SWS relative to when a nap was taken earlier in the day (Lassonde et al., 2016). This impact on subsequent sleep physiology suggests that naps may be an extension of overnight sleep. How napping status (i.e., habitual and non-habitual napping) impacts overnight sleep physiology and subsequent memory consolidation is unknown. Thus, this study aims to investigate how napping vs. staying awake in habitual and non-habitual napping children may impact overnight sleep physiology and subsequent memory consolidation.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALNap/wake conditions on memory
Habitual and non-habitual napping children will complete a two conditions-a nap condition where they are encouraged to nap in the afternoon and a wake condition where instead of napping, they spend an equal amount of time awake engaging in quiet activities.
BEHAVIORALNap/wake conditions on overnight physiology
Habitual and non-habitual napping children will complete a two conditions-a nap condition where they are encouraged to nap in the afternoon and a wake condition where instead of napping, they spend an equal amount of time awake engaging in quiet activities. On the nights of the nap and wake conditions, physiology will be recorded in habitual and non-habitual nappers.
Sponsors
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Masking description
Within-subject; participants/experimenters are aware of conditions
Intervention model description
Within subject comparison of nap/overnight and wake/overnight conditions in habitual and non-habitual nappers
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
33 Months to 71 Months
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Family lives within 30 miles of UMass Amherst * Is 33-71 months at the time of enrollment * Meets the definition of a habitual (5+ naps/week) or non-habitual (\<2 naps/week) napper * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing * Access to a computer with an internet connection for online sessions with the research team.
Exclusion criteria
* Diagnosis of any sleep disorder (other than mild parasomnia which is routine at this age) past or present * Current use of psychotropic or sleep-altering medications * Traveling beyond 1 time zone within 1 month of participation * Fever or symptoms of respiratory illness at the time of participation * Diagnosed developmental disability
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight sleep physiology | 9-11 hours of sleep overnight | Amount of slow wave activity and other non-REM sleep features in overnight sleep following a day where a nap was involved compared to when there was no nap earlier in the day. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in memory accuracy | 2-3 hours/24 hours | Accuracy on the memory task following the nap compared to before the nap relative to the same memory change measured over an interval spent awake. Further, accuracy on the memory task 24hrs later compared to before the nap/wake interval. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactSanna Lokhandwala, MS
Backup ContactRebecca M Spencer, PhD
Outcome results
None listed