The Role of Naps and Overnight Sleep on Cognitive Learning in Preschoolers

Sleep Clinical Trial

Official title: The Role of Naps and Overnight Sleep on Cognitive Learning in Preschoolers

Status Recruiting

Clinical Trial 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.

Clinical Trial 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. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Sleep

• NCT number: NCT04758663
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Contact: Sanna Lokhandwala, MS
• Phone: 8323821611
• Email: slokhandwala@umass.edu
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 12, 2021
• Completion date: June 30, 2023