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

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Sleep
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Nap/wake conditions on memory; Behavioral: Nap/wake conditions on overnight physiology

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.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Sanna Lokhandwala, MS; Phone Number: 8323821611; Email: slokhandwala@umass.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Rebecca M Spencer, PhD; Phone Number: 413-548-5661; Email: rspencer@umass.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, 01003
      • Recruiting
      • University of Massachusetts
      • Contact: Rebecca M Spencer, PhD; Phone Number: 413-548-5661; Email: rspencer@umass.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 2 years to 5 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

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

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Declarative memory; Napping v. wake effect on declarative memory in habitual and non-habitual nappers.	Behavioral: Nap/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.
Experimental: Overnight Physiology; Napping v. wake effect on overnight physiology in habitual and non-habitual nappers.	Behavioral: Nap/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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overnight sleep physiology	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.	9-11 hours of sleep overnight

Secondary 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. Further, accuracy on the memory task 24hrs later compared to before the nap/wake interval.	2-3 hours/24 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 12, 2021
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): June 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): June 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 12, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 12, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): February 17, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 13, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 12, 2021
• Last Verified: May 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2021-2488

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