Media Release

For Immediate Release

May 27, 2008

Researchers explore the power of power naps

When you’re short on sleep, even the smallest tasks and simplest decisions can be difficult. Wonder if a power nap might help? Dr. Jason Ivanoff, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Saint Mary’s University, hopes his research will help answer that question.

Ivanoff and his colleagues, Dr. Ben Rusak of Dalhousie University and Dr. Chris Bowen of the National Research Council, recently received $150,000 in funding (over three years) for a project that will explore changes in the brain that result from sleep deprivation. The project will also explore how long naps (two hours) and short power naps (20 minutes) might help reverse the negative effects of missing sleep.

Ivanoff said it’s an important area of research because members of industrialized societies, such as Canada’s, commonly experience chronic sleep deprivation due to extended work hours. And because of this sleep loss, their decision-making ability is often impaired.

“Our understanding of the neurocognitive consequences of sleepiness is still in its infancy,” said Ivanoff. “We know little about how naps improve brain function while we make decisions.”

To evaluate how sleep loss affects the neural mechanisms of human decision making and how naps will help, the researchers will use functional brain imaging to study how volunteers perform simple tasks that require them to act or not act – such as pressing a button if they see a square, but not pressing a button is they see a circle. The task seems simple, but with regard to brain activity, it shares features with real-life decisions.

“There is, to our knowledge, no published research examining the neurocognitive consequences of the use of scheduled naps as a counter-measure for daytime fatigue,” said Ivanoff.

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For more information:

Blake Patterson
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: blake.patterson@smu.ca
www.smu.ca