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

Study Overview
=================
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.

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

Conditions
-----------------
Sleep

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Behavioral: Napping


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
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

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 33 Months
Maximum Age: 60 Months

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Within subject comparison of nap and wake conditions
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

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

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 |