Lobachevsky University cyberpsychologists conduct large-scale study of sleepiness patterns
Researchers from the laboratory of cyberpsychology at the UNN Faculty of Social Sciences conducted a large-scale study of sleepiness patterns among Russians. The study involved more than 200 people aged from 25 to 72 years; they rated their condition at a certain point in time according to the "gold standards" of well-being, the Karolinska and Stanford Sleepiness scales.
In the UNN scientists' experiment, additional parameters were added to the sleepiness scales: gender, age, height, weight, presence of chronic diseases, presence of sleep problems, coffee consumption, driving experience and smoking, time of falling asleep and waking up.
"Researchers tend to choose one of the scales arbitrarily. We have shown that the Karolinska and Stanford scales are not interchangeable in some cases, and the results of the sleepiness assessment differ markedly if a person has sleep problems. In this case, the Stanford scale is more accurate and preferable," said Valeria Demareva, Head of the Cyberpsychology Laboratory at the UNN Faculty of Social Sciences.
In contrast to the classic experiment, Nizhny Novgorod scientists studied sleepiness in natural conditions so that participants did not have to sleep in the lab.
"We created a virtual environment for remote assessment of a person's condition. As instructed, participants wore a heart rate sensor and used an online service to assess their condition from 8 p.m. until they fell asleep. When they woke up at 6:00 a.m., they filled in data on sleepiness," added Valeria Demareva.
Sleepiness increased from evening to night (8 p.m. to 10 p.m.), peaking at 6 a.m. upon awakening. Scientists also found that one cup of strong coffee a day did not affect a person’s night sleep.
"Problems with sleep-wake patterns are caused by the cumulative effect of caffeine. Interestingly, caffeine addicts were found to be more drowsy in the evening than those who did not drink coffee at all. However, single consumption of this drink, even in large quantities, had no effect on the sleepiness patterns of those who participated in the experiment," Valeria Demareva explained.
The results of the research will form the basis for developing an automatic heart rhythm based drowsiness detector for monitoring the condition of truck and train drivers and pilots.
To date, this is the largest Russian study of the phenomenon of sleepiness. Cyberpsychologists at Lobachevsky University continue to collect and analyse data to study the functioning of the heart during sleep and create a mathematical model of this relationship. The first results and conclusions have been made publicly available to all Russian scientists.
