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

Not Applicable

Terminated

• Conditions: Sleep
• Interventions: Behavioral: Napping

• Registration Number: NCT03285880
• Lead Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Brief Summary

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.

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 Timeline

• Study Start: 2017-09-01
• Study First Submitted: 2017-09-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-09-14
• Study First Posted: 2017-09-18
• Primary Completion: 2022-06-30
• Study Completion: 2022-06-30
• Status Verified: 2022-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-11-30
• Last Update Posted: 2022-12-05

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: TERMINATED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 361

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 & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Declarative memory	Napping	Napping v. wake effect on a declarative memory task (storybook)
Emotional memory	Napping	Napping v. wake effect on an emotional memory task (emotional faces or storybook)
Procedural memory	Napping	Napping v. wake effect on a procedural memory task (motor sequence learning or mirror tracing)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in memory accuracy	4-5 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

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Massachusetts; 🇺🇸 Amherst, Massachusetts, United States