Study summary
Sleep is essential for our body and brain to rest, recover, and perform daily activities. Problems with sleep can affect our cognition - the mental processes such as thinking, reasoning, attention and memory. Poor sleep can also harm mental wellbeing and increase the risk of anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions. In turn, mental health disorders can also disrupt sleep, creating a cycle that is difficult to break. Despite this strong link, we still don’t fully understand how sleep, cognition and mental health influence one another.
This study will aim to understand this relationship and investigate how sleep affects wellbeing and cognitive performance. We will study three groups: healthy participants, shift workers and people with psychosis and depression.
These groups were chosen as they represent increasing levels of risk for sleep and mental health difficulties. Studying these different groups will allow us to understand how sleep, cognition and mental health relate to each other. Specifically, we believe that cognitive difficulties caused by poor sleep lead to decreased ability to regulate emotions and think flexibly in different situations, which in turn increases the risk of mental health issues.
To better understand people’s sleep and daily experiences, participants will take part in two-week periods of monitoring while going about their normal routines at home or work. They will wear activity monitors to track movement and light sensors to measure how much light they are exposed to. Each day, they will also complete short diaries, cognitive tasks, and brief questionnaires through a smartphone app. Data will be collected in every season to explore how light exposure and seasonal changes affect sleep and mood.
Overall, this project aims to better understand how sleep, daily rhythms, cognition and mental health are connected, and how this knowledge could help improve health and wellbeing for everyone.