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Updated: Dec 31, 2025

Measuring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation During Naps in Early Childhood
Published on: October 2, 2019
Sleep patterns and sleep deprivation recorded by actigraphy in 4th-grade and 5th-grade students
Ao Li1, Siteng Chen1, Stuart F Quan2
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Objective:
This study investigates sleep patterns of fourth- and fifth-grade students using actigraphy.
Methods:
The study included 257 students enrolled in a Southwestern US school district who participated in a novel sleep science curriculum during the Spring 2016-17 and Fall 2017-18 semesters and met the study inclusion criteria. As part of this curriculum, participants underwent 5-7 days of continuous wrist actigraphy and completed an online sleep diary.
Results:
Approximately two-thirds of the 9-11-year-old fourth- and fifth-grade students slept less than the minimum 9 h per night recommended by both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine/Sleep Research Society and the National Sleep Foundation. The sleep midpoint time on weekends was about 1 h later than on weekdays. There was a significant effect of age on sleep duration. Compared to 9-year old students, a larger proportion of 10-year old students had a sleep duration less than 8.5 h. Boys had shorter sleep duration than girls, and a larger percentage of boys obtained less than 9 h of sleep compared to girls.
Conclusions:
Insufficient sleep is a highly prevalent condition among 9-11-year-old fourth- and fifth-grade elementary students. Importantly, there is a difference between sleep patterns on weekdays and weekends which may portend greater problems with sleep in adolescence and young adulthood.
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