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Collecting Sleep, Circadian, Fatigue, and Performance Data in Complex Operational Environments
Published on: August 8, 2019
Handedness correlates with actigraphically measured sleep in a controlled environment
William D S Killgore1, Erica L Lipizzi, Nancy L Grugle
1Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Harvard Medical School, USA. killgore@mclean.harvard.edu
Perceptual and Motor Skills
|December 30, 2009
Summary
Hand preference and sleep duration are linked, but only in controlled lab settings. Right-hand dominance correlated with better sleep, a connection often hidden in everyday environments.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Medicine
- Human Physiology
Background:
- Brain lateralization, indicated by hand preference, is increasingly studied for its links to health.
- Previous research suggests a connection between brain lateralization and sleep patterns.
- Environmental factors may influence the detectability of these relationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between hand preference and sleep duration.
- To determine if environmental settings affect the observed relationship between handedness and sleep.
- To explore the influence of controlled versus uncontrolled environments on sleep metrics.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 40 healthy subjects using self-report, sleep diaries, and wrist activity monitors.
- Collected data during a 7-day uncontrolled at-home phase.
- Collected data during a controlled overnight sleep laboratory stay.
Main Results:
- Handedness was unrelated to sleep duration in the uncontrolled home environment.
- In the controlled laboratory setting, greater right-hand dominance positively correlated with increased sleep duration.
- Higher right-hand dominance was also associated with greater sleep efficiency in the laboratory setting.
Conclusions:
- The relationship between brain lateralization (hand preference) and sleep is influenced by environmental control.
- Controlled laboratory settings reveal associations between right-hand dominance and improved sleep metrics (duration, efficiency).
- Extraneous environmental factors in uncontrolled settings can obscure the relationship between handedness and sleep quality.
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