Shorter self-reported sleep duration in men is associated with worse virtual spatial navigation performance

Abstract

Sleep has been shown to impact navigation ability. However, it remains unclear how different sleep-related variables may be independently associated with spatial navigation performance, and as to whether gender may play a role in these associations. We used a mobile video game app, Sea Hero Quest (SHQ), to measure wayfinding ability in US-based participants. Wayfinding performance on SHQ has been shown to correlate with real-world wayfinding. Participants were asked to report their sleep duration, quality, daytime sleepiness and nap frequency and duration (n = 737, 409 men, 328 women, mean age = 27.1 years, range = 18-59 years). A multivariate linear regression was used to identify which sleep variables were independently associated with wayfinding performance. For men, longer sleep durations were associated with better wayfinding performance. For women, no such association was found. While other sleep variables showed trends of association with wayfinding performance, none of these were significantly associated with wayfinding performance in our regression model. These findings from younger U.S.-based participants suggest that a longer sleep duration may be an important contributor to successful navigation ability in men.

Individuals learning to drive solo before age 18 have superior spatial navigation ability compared with those who learn later

“…After running the multivariate linear regression model, we ran a mediation analysis to see whether the effect of each of the independent predictor variables that showed a significant association with wayfinding distance was mediated by a. age, b. gender, c. hours per week gaming on all devices, d. whether one grew up in a city or not, given previous associations between age, gender, gaming experience and the environment one grew up in and their wayfinding performance on SHQ (see for more: Coutrot et al, 2018, 2022a, 2022b; Yavuz et al, 2023a, 2023b). We also included the current environment one lives in at the time of the study (city or not) as a mediator for the effect of weekly biking (yes/no) on wayfinding distance, as we were interested in whether the environment one currently lives in would influence the effect of travel-related activities on navigation.…”

“…whether one grew up in a city or not, given previous associations between age, gender, gaming experience and the environment one grew up in and their wayfinding performance on SHQ (see for more: Coutrot et al, 2018Coutrot et al, , 2022aCoutrot et al, , 2022bYavuz et al, 2023aYavuz et al, , 2023b. We also included the current environment one lives in at the time of the study (city or not) as a mediator for the effect of weekly biking (yes/no) on wayfinding distance, as we were interested in whether the environment one currently lives in would influence the effect of travel-related activities on navigation.…”

From “online brains” to “online lives”: understanding the individualized impacts of Internet use across psychological, cognitive and social dimensions

“…The relationship between online social activities and cognitive processes is currently the focus of various lines of research, yet it is important to recognize that real-world activity can significantly shape online social functioning and abilities as well 141,145,[151][152][153] . This interaction creates a multi-dimensional "feedback loop" between offline activities and online social contexts.…”