The role of sleep physiology in determining children's cognitive functioning following experimental sleep restriction and extension paradigms

While the effects of sleep loss on human performance have been extensively studied in adults, very little has been investigated in children. Given that children are generally not getting the amount of sleep that they need each night it is important to study how cumulative sleep loss may play a role in their daytime functioning. My proposed preliminary study will look at how cumulative sleep restriction plays a role in cognitive and behavioural abilities in both normally-developing children and those diagnosed with ADHD, which will be done by looking at sleep patterns during periods of restriction. Future projects would follow from the results of this preliminary project and may include investigation of individual differences in sleep physiology that can predict different cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children.