INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 08 Program Schedule 02/16/2024 01:45 pm - 03:00 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 08: Cognition \| Cognitive Reserve Variables Final Abstract #18 Sleep Wake Chronotype, Congruency of Testing Time, and Cognitive Performance Caitlin Dougher, Fordham University, Bronx, United States Malorie Watson, Fordham University, Bronx, United States Theresa Lin, Fordham University, Bronx, United States Molly Zimmerman, Fordham University, Bronx, United States Category: Sleep and Sleep Disorders Keyword 1: neuropsychological assessment Keyword 2: language Keyword 3: sleep Objective: There is an adage that states, “early bird gets the worm”; this proverb contains inherent beliefs about society and sleep-wake preferences. Chronotype refers to individual differences in sleep preferences, either a morning, evening, or neither-type. Few studies have analyzed the relationship between chronotype, cognition, and test timing. Thus, the current study sought to examine sleep-wake preference and its connection to cognitive performance. Recent work has shown that evening-types perform better on attention and memory tests. Therefore, it was hypothesized that evening-types would perform better on these same such measures. Previous findings also linked time of testing and chronotype. Therefore, it was hypothesized that congruency of testing and chronotype would positively impact cognitive performance. Specifically, those who were tested at a time reflecting their chronotype (e.g., morning type tested in the morning) would perform better on processing speed and working memory tests. Participants and Methods: All participants were university students from the Bronx, NY (N = 218, Female = 68.8%, M_Age = 20.5, SD = 1.97). Participants underwent cognitive testing, measuring a wide range of domains; executive function was assessed using the Trail Making Test Part B (TMTB), and Conditions 3 and 4 of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Color-Word Interference Test (D-KEFS-CWIT), which measure inhibition and inhibition/switching. Spontaneous speech was measured with the Controlled Oral Word Associatiton Test (COWAT; FAS). Working memory and attention were assessed with Cogstate Two Back (TWOB) and Trail Making Test Part A (TMTA). Verbal learning and memory were assessed with the International Shopping List Test recall (ISLR). Processing speed was measured using the Cogstate Identification test (IDN). Chronotype was determined by the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), a 19-item scale assessing sleep-wake preferences. Results: A series of ANOVAs were calculated to evaluate significant differences in testing time and cognitive performance between chronotype groups: morningness (N=16), eveningness (N=62), or neither (N=106). Chronotype was associated with performance on a test of executively-mediated linguistic search and retrieval in the form of first letter verbal fluency (FAS), F(2, 68)=3.68, p=0.03. The magnitude of the difference was large (η²=0.10). A significant interaction effect of chronotype and time of testing was evident for FAS, F(1, 68)=3.9, p=0.05. The magnitude of the difference was medium (η²=0.05). A notable trend of greater performance for morning-types, compared to evening-types was evident (p=0.08), due to small sample size. The time of testing, irrespective of chronotype, showed a significant association with performance on D-KEFS-CWIT 1 (p=0.01), 3 (p=0.01), and 4 (p=0.03), with higher scores in the morning across all three conditions. Conclusions: The results suggest that there are significant group differences in chronotype for cognitive performance on a test of verbal fluency. The significant interaction between chronotype and testing, with the medium effect size, provides support for matching testing time to chronotype to optimize verbal fluency performance. Future studies should investigate a more specific matching of chronotype with time of testing, i.e. mapping what hours of the day specifically correspond to morning and evening. Additionally, these same relationships should be studied in clinical populations, as this present study only investigated a college sample.

Poster

02/16/2024
01:45 pm - 03:00 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 08: Cognition | Cognitive Reserve Variables

Final Abstract #18

Sleep Wake Chronotype, Congruency of Testing Time, and Cognitive Performance

Caitlin Dougher, Fordham University, Bronx, United States
Malorie Watson, Fordham University, Bronx, United States
Theresa Lin, Fordham University, Bronx, United States
Molly Zimmerman, Fordham University, Bronx, United States

Category: Sleep and Sleep Disorders

Keyword 1: neuropsychological assessment
Keyword 2: language
Keyword 3: sleep

Objective:

There is an adage that states, “early bird gets the worm”; this proverb contains inherent beliefs about society and sleep-wake preferences. Chronotype refers to individual differences in sleep preferences, either a morning, evening, or neither-type. Few studies have analyzed the relationship between chronotype, cognition, and test timing. Thus, the current study sought to examine sleep-wake preference and its connection to cognitive performance. Recent work has shown that evening-types perform better on attention and memory tests. Therefore, it was hypothesized that evening-types would perform better on these same such measures. Previous findings also linked time of testing and chronotype. Therefore, it was hypothesized that congruency of testing and chronotype would positively impact cognitive performance. Specifically, those who were tested at a time reflecting their chronotype (e.g., morning type tested in the morning) would perform better on processing speed and working memory tests.

Participants and Methods:

All participants were university students from the Bronx, NY (N = 218, Female = 68.8%, M_Age = 20.5, SD = 1.97). Participants underwent cognitive testing, measuring a wide range of domains; executive function was assessed using the Trail Making Test Part B (TMTB), and Conditions 3 and 4 of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Color-Word Interference Test (D-KEFS-CWIT), which measure inhibition and inhibition/switching. Spontaneous speech was measured with the Controlled Oral Word Associatiton Test (COWAT; FAS). Working memory and attention were assessed with Cogstate Two Back (TWOB) and Trail Making Test Part A (TMTA). Verbal learning and memory were assessed with the International Shopping List Test recall (ISLR). Processing speed was measured using the Cogstate Identification test (IDN). Chronotype was determined by the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), a 19-item scale assessing sleep-wake preferences.

Results:

A series of ANOVAs were calculated to evaluate significant differences in testing time and cognitive performance between chronotype groups: morningness (N=16), eveningness (N=62), or neither (N=106). Chronotype was associated with performance on a test of executively-mediated linguistic search and retrieval in the form of first letter verbal fluency (FAS), F(2, 68)=3.68, p=0.03. The magnitude of the difference was large (η²=0.10). A significant interaction effect of chronotype and time of testing was evident for FAS, F(1, 68)=3.9, p=0.05. The magnitude of the difference was medium (η²=0.05). A notable trend of greater performance for morning-types, compared to evening-types was evident (p=0.08), due to small sample size. The time of testing, irrespective of chronotype, showed a significant association with performance on D-KEFS-CWIT 1 (p=0.01), 3 (p=0.01), and 4 (p=0.03), with higher scores in the morning across all three conditions.

Conclusions:

The results suggest that there are significant group differences in chronotype for cognitive performance on a test of verbal fluency. The significant interaction between chronotype and testing, with the medium effect size, provides support for matching testing time to chronotype to optimize verbal fluency performance. Future studies should investigate a more specific matching of chronotype with time of testing, i.e. mapping what hours of the day specifically correspond to morning and evening. Additionally, these same relationships should be studied in clinical populations, as this present study only investigated a college sample.