Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of dawn simulation on attentional performance in adolescents

  • Original Article
  • Published:
European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed at examining the effects of 2 weeks of dawn simulation on attentional performance in adolescents.

Methods

On the whole, 56 adolescents (24 females and 32 males) took part to the study, with a mean age of 17.68 ± 0.97 years (age ranging between 15 and 20 years). Each adolescent was requested to participate for 5 consecutive weeks and the research design included the baseline and two counterbalanced conditions, dawn simulator and control (no dawn simulator). Attentional performance of adolescents was measured through the attention network test (ANT) that allowed assessing the efficiency of three separable attentional networks, namely alerting, orienting and executive. Overall, participants performed the ANT three times (i.e., one time for each condition), while sleep quality, sleep duration and sleep timing were concurrently monitored by means of actigraphy and were treated as potential confounders.

Results

The only improvement of the attentional performance attributable to the use of dawn simulator was observed for the efficiency of alerting network (45.97 ± 32.76 ms) that significantly increased in comparison to the baseline (31.57 ± 26.97 ms) (p < 0.05). On the contrary, the sleep quality, sleep quantity and sleep timing did not significantly change.

Conclusion

These results show for the first time that, controlling for sleep quality, sleep duration and sleep timing, the use of dawn simulator across 2 weeks is able to determine an alerting effect in adolescents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Please refer to Fan et al. (2002) to see the graphical representation of the ANT experimental procedure.

Abbreviations

ANT:

Attention network test

BT:

Bed time

GUT:

Get up time

MA:

Mean motor activity

MIDF:

Midpoint of sleep during free days

MIDS:

Midpoint of sleep during school days

MMW:

Micro Motionlogger® Watch actigraph

SE:

Sleep efficiency

SJ:

Social jetlag

SOL:

Sleep onset latency

TIB:

Time in bed

TST:

Total sleep time

WASO:

Wake after sleep onset

WB:

Wake bouts

References

  • Acebo C, Sadeh A, Seifer R, Tzischinsky O, Wolfson AR, Hafer A, Carskadon MA (1999) Estimating sleep patterns with activity monitoring in children and adolescents: how many nights are necessary for reliable measures? Sleep 22:95–103

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Adan A, Archer SN, Hidalgo MP, Di Milia L, Natale V, Randler C (2012) Circadian typology: a comprehensive review. Chronobiol Int 29:1153–1175

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Badia P, Myers B, Boecker M, Culpepper J (1991) Bright light effects on body temperature, alertness, EEG and behaviour. Physiol Behav 50:583–588

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boivin DB, Duffy JF, Kronauer RE, Czeisler CA (1996) Dose-response relationships for resetting of human circadian clock by light. Nature 379:540–542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bush G, Luu P, Posner MI (2000) Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulated cortex. Trends Cogn Sci 4:215–222

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cain N, Gradisar M (2010) Electronic media use and sleep in school-aged children and adolescents: a review. Sleep Med 11:735–742

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cajochen C (2007) Alerting effects of light. Sleep Med Rev 11:453–464

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carskadon MA, Vieira C, Acebo C (1993) Association between puberty and delayed phase preference. Sleep 16:258–262

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cole RJ, Kripke DF (1988) Progress in automatic sleep/wake scoring by wrist actigraph. Sleep Res 17:331

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cole RJ, Kripke DF, Gruen W, Mullaney DJ, Gillin JC (1992) Automatic sleep/wake identification from wrist activity. Sleep 15:461–469

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Corbetta M, Kincade J, Ollinger JM, McAvoy MP, Shulman GL (2000) Voluntary orienting is dissociated from target detection in human posterior parietal cortex. Nat Neurosci 3:292–297

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Daurat A, Aguirre A, Foret J, Gonnet P, Keromes A, Benoit O (1993) Bright light affects alertness and performance rhythms during a 24-h constant routine. Physiol Behav 53:929–936

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dewald JF, Meijer AM, Oort FJ, Kerkhof GA, Bögels SM (2010) The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents: a meta-analytic review. Sleep Med 14:179–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dexter D, Bijwadia J, Schilling D, Appelbaugh G (2003) Sleep, sleepiness and school start times: a preliminary study. Wis Med J 102:44–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Diaz-Morales JF, Escribano C, Jankowski KS, Vollmer C, Randler C (2014) Evening adolescents: the role of family relationships and pubertal development. J Adolesc 37:425–432

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dijk DJ, Cajochen C, Borbély AA (1991) Effect of a single 3-hour exposure to bright light on core body-temperature and sleep in humans. Neurosci Lett 121:59–62

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen BA, Eriksen CW (1974) Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task. Percept Psychophys 16:143–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan J, Wu Y, Fossella JA, Posner MI (2001) Assessing the heritability of attentional networks. BMC Neurosci 2:14

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fan J, McCandliss BD, Sommer T, Raz A, Posner MI (2002) Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. J Cogn Neurosci 14:340–347

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fan J, McCandliss BD, Fossella J, Flombaum JI, Posner MI (2005) The activation of attentional networks. Neuroimage 26:471–479

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fromm E, Horlebein C, Meergans A, Niesner M, Randler C (2011) Evaluation of a dawn simulator in children and adolescents. Biol Rhythm Res 42:417–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabel V, Maire M, Reichert CF, Chellappa SL, Schmidt C, Hommes V, Viola AU, Cajochen C (2013) Effects of artificial dawn and morning blue light on daytime cognitive performance, well-being, cortisol and melatonin levels. Chronobiol Int 30:988–997

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garaulet M, Ortega FB, Ruiz JR, Rey-López JP, Béghin L, Manios Y, Cuenca-García M, Plada M, Diethelm K, Kafatos A, Molnár D, Al-Tahan J, Moreno LA (2011) Short sleep duration is associated with increased obesity markers in European adolescents: effect of physical activity and dietary habits. the HELENA study. Int J Obes 35:1308–1317

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gau SF, Soong WT (2003) The transition of sleep-wake patterns in early adolescence. Sleep 26:449–454

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Giménez MC, Hessels M, van de Werken M, de Vries B, Beersma DGM, Gordijn MCM (2010) Effects of artificial dawn on subjective ratings of sleep inertia and dim light melatonin onset. Chronobiol Int 27:1219–1241

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ishigami Y, Klein RM (2010) Repeated measurement of the components of attention using two versions of the attention network test (ANT): stability, isolability, robustness, and reliability. J Neurosci Methods 190:117–128

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ishigami Y, Klein RM (2011) Repeated measurement of the components of attention of older adults using the two versions of the attention network test: stability, isolability, robustness, and reliability. Front Aging Neurosci 3:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jugovac D, Cavallero C (2012) Twenty-four hours of total sleep deprivation selectively impairs attentional networks. Exp Psychol 59:115–123

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lavoie S, Paquet J, Selmaoui B, Rufiange M, Dumont M (2003) Vigilance levels during and after bright light exposure in the first half of the night. Chronobiol Int 20:1019–1038

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leppämäki S, Meesters Y, Haukka J, Lönnqvist J, Partonen T (2003) Effect of simulated dawn on quality of sleep––a community-based trial. BMC Psychiatry 3:14

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loessl B, Valerius G, Kopasz M, Hornyak M, Riemann D, Voderholzer U (2008) Are adolescents chronically sleep-deprived? an investigation of sleep habits of adolescents in the Southwest of Germany. Child Care Health Dev 34:549–556

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lufi D, Tzischinsky O, Hadar S (2011) Delaying school starting time by one hour: some effects on attention levels in adolescents. J Clin Sleep Med 7:137–143

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matchock RL, Mordkoff JT (2009) Chronotype and time-of-day influences on the alerting, orienting, and executive components of attention. Exp Brain Res 192:189–198

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neuhaus AH, Koehler S, Opgen-Rhein C, Urbanek C, Hahn E, Dettling M (2007) Selective anterior cingulate cortex deficit during conflict solution in schizophrenia: an event-related potential study. J Psychiatr Res 41:635–644

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Owens JA, Belon K, Moss P (2010) Impact of delaying school start time on adolescent sleep, mood, and behavior. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 164:608–614

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Posner MI (1978) Chronometric explorations of mind. Erlbaum, Hillsdale

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner MI (1980) Orienting of attention. Q J Exp Psychol 32:3–25

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Posner MI, Petersen SE (1990) The attention systems of the human brain. Annu Rev Neurosci 13:25–42

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Posner MI, Raichle ME (1994) Images of mind. Scientific American Library, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahman A, Flynn-Evans EE, Aeschbach D, Brainard GC, Czeisler CA, Lockley SW (2014) Diurnal spectral sensitivity of the acute alerting effects of light. Sleep 37:271–281

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Randler C, Bilger S, Diaz-Morales JF (2009) Associations among sleep, chronotype, parental monitoring, and pubertal development among German adolescents. J Psychol 143:509–520

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roenneberg T, Kuehnle T, Pramstaller PP, Ricken J, Havel M, Guth A, Merrow M (2004) A marker for the end of adolescence. Curr Biol 14:R1038–R1039

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scheer FA, Buijs RM (1999) Light affects morning salivary cortisol in humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 84:3395–3398

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smolders KC, de Kort YA, Cluitmans PJ (2012) A higher illuminance induces alertness even during office hours: findings on subjective measures, task performance and heart rate measures. Physiol Behav 107:7–16

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sturm W, Willmes K (2001) On the functional neuroanatomy of intrinsic and phasic alertness. Neuroimage 14:76–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talbot LS, McGlinchey EL, Kaplan KA, Dahl RE, Harvey AG (2010) Sleep deprivation in adolescents and adults: changes in affect. Emotion 10:831–841

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson A, Jones H, Gregson W, Atkinson G (2014) Effects of dawn simulation on markers of sleep inertia and post-waking performance in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol 114:1049–1056

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thorn L, Hucklebridge F, Esgate A, Evans P, Clow A (2004) The effect of dawn simulation on the cortisol response to awakening in healthy participants. Psychoneuroendocrinology 29:925–930

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tonetti L, Fabbri M, Natale V (2008) Sex difference in sleep-time preference and sleep need: a cross-sectional survey among Italian pre-adolescents, adolescents, and adults. Chronobiol Int 25:745–759

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van de Werken M, Giménez MC, de Vries B, Beersma DGM, van Someren EJW, Gordijn MCM (2010) Effects of artificial dawn on sleep inertia, skin temperature, and the awakening cortisol response. J Sleep Res 19:425–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Someren EJW (2007) Improving actigraphic sleep estimates in insomnia and dementia: how many nights? J Sleep Res 16:269–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vedaa Ø, West Saxvig I, Wilhelmsen-Langeland A, Bjorvatn B, Pallesen S (2012) School start time, sleepiness and functioning in Norwegian adolescents. Scand J Educ Res 56:55–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vollmer C, Michel U, Randler C (2012) Outdoor light at night (LAN) is correlated with eveningness in adolescents. Chronobiol Int 29:502–508

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wahlstrom K (2002) Changing times: findings from the first longitudinal study of later high school start times. NASSP Bulletin 86:3–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittmann M, Dinich J, Merrow M, Roenneberg T (2006) Social jetlag: misalignment of biological and social time. Chronobiol Int 23:497–509

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all students, parents, teachers and principals of the high schools who supported our study. The dawn simulators used in the present study were provided by Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Monza, Italy, while the actigraphs were supplied by Ambulatory Monitoring, Inc., Ardsley, NY, USA.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127, Bologna, Italy

    Lorenzo Tonetti, Alex Erbacci, Marco Filardi & Vincenzo Natale

  2. Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy

    Marco Fabbri

  3. Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Monica Martoni

Authors
  1. Lorenzo Tonetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marco Fabbri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alex Erbacci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Marco Filardi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Monica Martoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Vincenzo Natale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorenzo Tonetti.

Additional information

Communicated by Dick F. Stegeman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tonetti, L., Fabbri, M., Erbacci, A. et al. Effects of dawn simulation on attentional performance in adolescents. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 579–587 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-3033-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-3033-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation