The Benefits of Naps on Cognitive, Emotional, and Motor Learning in Preschoolers

The specific objective of the proposed research is to examine whether naps contribute to immediate and delayed benefits on multiple forms of learning in young children (3-5 yrs). By probing recall prior to and following mid-day nap or wake intervals, the overarching hypothesis is that recent memories are actively processed (as opposed to passively protected) by a nap, conferring immediate or delayed (24-hrs) benefits on declarative (Aim 1), procedural (Aim 2), and emotional (Aim 3) memories. In two conditions, children will either be nap-promoted or wake-promoted midday. Subsequently, performance will be reassessed that day as well as the following day.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Sleep
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Napping

Detailed Description

The proposed research examines whether naps contribute to immediate and delayed benefits on multiple forms of learning in preschool-aged children (3-5 yrs). By probing recall prior to and following mid-day nap or wake intervals, we will examine immediate memory performance and how it is changed by an interval with a nap compared to if that interval was spent awake. There are three arm, separately assessing declarative (using a storybook learning task), procedural (using a mirror tracing task), and emotional (using an emotional storybook task). All children will participate in a nap and wake condition. On the experimental day, children will learn the task, then be nap or wake promoted (within subject, conditions counterbalanced and separated by 1 week). Subsequently, performance will be reassessed that day as well as the following day. Children will wear an actigraph watch for a 16-day interval surrounding the experimental days in order to access habitual sleep patterns (e.g., nap frequency). A subset of children will complete the experimental days in the sleep laboratory. For these children, sleep will be measured using polysomnography, a montage of electroencepholography, electromyography, and electrooculography electrodes.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 361
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, 01003
      • University of Massachusetts

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 2 years to 5 years (CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• be enrolled in a preschool testing site or available to come into the lab

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of any sleep disorder(other than mild parasomnia) past or present
• Current use of psychotropic or sleep-altering medications
• traveling beyond 1 time zone within 1 month of testing
• fever or symptoms of respiratory illness at the time of testing
• physical handicap which interferes with assessments (vision, hearing impairment)
• diagnosed developmental disability

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Declarative memory; Napping v. wake effect on a declarative memory task (storybook)	Behavioral: Napping; Children nap during the nap opportunity
EXPERIMENTAL: Procedural memory; Napping v. wake effect on a procedural memory task (motor sequence learning or mirror tracing)	Behavioral: Napping; Children nap during the nap opportunity
EXPERIMENTAL: Emotional memory; Napping v. wake effect on an emotional memory task (emotional faces or storybook)	Behavioral: Napping; Children nap during the nap opportunity

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in memory accuracy	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	4-5 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Kurdziel L, Duclos K, Spencer RM. Sleep spindles in midday naps enhance learning in preschool children. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Oct 22;110(43):17267-72. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1306418110. Epub 2013 Sep 23.
• Desrochers PC, Kurdziel LB, Spencer RM. Delayed benefit of naps on motor learning in preschool children. Exp Brain Res. 2016 Mar;234(3):763-72. doi: 10.1007/s00221-015-4506-3. Epub 2015 Dec 8.

Helpful Links

• Lab website

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): September 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 30, 2022
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): June 30, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 14, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 14, 2017
• First Posted (ACTUAL): September 18, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): December 5, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 30, 2022
• Last Verified: November 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: R01HL111695 (NIH)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No