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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments
Published on: August 8, 2019
Circadian motor asymmetries before and after prolonged wakefulness in humans
Vincenzo Natale1, Monica Martoni, Maria José Esposito
1Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy. vincenzo.natale@unibo.it
Abstract:
It was hypothesized that the relative superiority of the non-dominant hand movements during late evening could arise from a more pronounced homeostatic deactivation of the left hemisphere. We tested such hypothesis collecting motor activity before and after prolonged wakefulness. Fifty-one right-handed subjects wore actigraphs on both left and right wrist for three consecutive days (baseline-sleep deprivation-sleep recovery). We replicated higher motor activity in left hand respect to the right hand at 22:00 and 23:00 h, but only in baseline condition. The results provide the evidence that circadian motor asymmetries do not seem to express homeostatic processes.
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