Assessing the benefits of napping and short rest breaks on processing speed in sleep‐restricted adolescents

Abstract

Achievement-oriented adolescents often study long hours under conditions of chronic sleep restriction, adversely affecting cognitive function. Here, we studied how napping and rest breaks (interleaved off-task periods) might ameliorate the negative effects of sleep restriction on processing speed. Fifty-seven healthy adolescents (26 female, age = 15-19 years) participated in a 15-day live-in protocol. All participants underwent sleep restriction (5 h time-in-bed), but were then randomized into two groups: one of these groups received a daily 1-h nap opportunity. Data from seven of the study days (sleep restriction days 1-5, and recovery days 1-2) are reported here. The Blocked Symbol Decoding Test, administered once a day, was used to assess time-on-task effects and the effects of rest breaks on processing speed. Controlling for baseline differences, participants who took a nap demonstrated faster speed of processing and greater benefit across testing sessions from practice. These participants were also affected significantly less by time-on-task effects. In contrast, participants who did not receive a nap benefited more from the rest breaks that were permitted between blocks of the test. Our results indicate that napping partially reverses the detrimental effects of sleep restriction on processing speed. However, rest breaks have a greater effect as a countermeasure against poor performance when sleep pressure is higher. These data add to the growing body of evidence showing the importance of sleep for good cognitive functioning in adolescents, and suggest that more frequent rest breaks might be important in situations where sleep loss is unavoidable.

Cognitive performance in adolescents with Delayed Sleep‐Wake Phase Disorder: Treatment effects and a comparison with good sleepers

“…These findings support empirical research which has shown processing speed is susceptible to sleep timing (Buckhalt, El-Sheikh, Keller, & Kelly, 2009), quality (Nader & Smith, 2015), duration (Cohen-Zion, Shabi, Levy, Glasner, & Wiener, 2016) and deprivation (Lo et al, 2016;Louca & Short, 2014), in pediatric samples. Importantly, these findings also add to evidence that sleep interventions can improve processing speed (Lim, Lo, & Chee, 2017;Wilhelmsen-Langeland et al, 2013), which may have important implications for educational psychologists looking for evidence based interventions to improve processing speed. In contrast, evidence for a relationship between sleep and working memory was modest.…”

The Effects of Workplace Rest Breaks on Health Problems Related to Long Working Hours and Shift Work among Male Apartment Janitors in Korea

“…Rest breaks at work are a crucial option for recovery [29] and have been well established to decrease fatigue and improve work performance [[30], [31], [32]]. In addition, they have been shown to enhance cognitive function [36,37] and to reduce musculoskeletal symptoms [[33], [34], [35]], reduce cardiovascular-related risks [38], and to improve mental health [39].…”

The impact of nutrition on sleep in people with an intellectual disability: An integrative literature review

“…Nevertheless, consensus exists among researchers that sleep plays an important role for an individual's physical, cognitive and mental well‐being. Sleep has been linked to cognitive performance on tasks requiring memory consolidation and learning (Gui et al, 2017), processing speed (Lim et al, 2017), procedural memory used in motor skills (Rangtell et al, 2017), attention (Lehto & Uusitalo‐Malmivaara, 2014), decision‐making and creativity (Seeley et al, 2016). In addition, links between physical health conditions and impaired sleep have been reported in the literature.…”