Evaluating the impact of daytime and sleeping movements on executive function

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

Elevated motion due to physical exercise is considered beneficial to cognitive performance, while elevated motion due to hyperactivity can be problematic for academic success. Unlike daytime motion, quiet restful sleep has been shown to improve cognitive performance. Due to the domain dependent impact of motion on cognitive performance, a better understanding of the impact of non-exercise-related motion on cognitive performance is of benefit to the field. Executive function (EF) refers to a set of regulatory cognitive processes that are thought to support goal attainment and is associated with academic and life success. One common measurement of EF is through tasks that assess a participant's ability to inhibit a prepotent response, to manipulate items in memory, or to react flexibly to changing environmental cues or task rules. Children with control disorders, such as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), often exhibit EF difficulties when compared to their non-diagnosed peers. ADHD is primarily characterized by inattention (being easily distracted/daydreaming), hyperactivity (restlessness, fidgeting, inability to sit still), and impulsivity (acting without thinking of consequences). In this experiment, we examine the impact of physical motion on EF task performance among those with and without ADHD by testing the relations between 1) daytime movements and 2) sleep movements, to a composite measure of EF task performance.

This work examines data from 110 children (44 F), ages 8-17 years (M=12.5). The sample included 52 non-diagnosed participants, and 58 ADHD-diagnosed participants (with or without comorbidities). Physical activity and sleep metrics were collected using Phillips Respironics Actiwatch-2 worn on the non-dominant hand of the child. The data were recorded in 1-minute epochs and watches were worn 24 hours a day, for at least 4 days (range 4-7, M=6.8). Eight variables were created to account for the average and max values of daytime and sleep activity, which were further separated into weekday and weekend categories. A composite EF score for each participant was created from 8 EF tasks: 2 inhibition tasks, 3 working memory/updating tasks, and 3 cognitive flexibility tasks.

Results indicate that age is strongly related with EF task performance for both non-diagnosed and diagnosed groups (Non-diagnosed: r=0.6, p=<.001; Diagnosed: r=0.56, p=<.001) (Figure 1a). Age is also a strong negative predictor of physical activity in both groups (Non-diagnosed: r=-0.57, p=<.001; Diagnosed: r=-0.52, p=<.001) (Figure 1b). Interestingly, age was not correlated with one’s sleep movements in either diagnosis group (Figure 1c). However, only children without an ADHD diagnosis exhibited average sleep movements that were negatively related to EF task performance (Non-diagnosed: r=-0.32, p=.023; Diagnosed: r=0.07, p=.11) (Figure 1d). The relationship between sleep movements and EF ability may differ by diagnosis, due to differences within the diagnostic group regarding sleep (e.g. symptom burden or medication use). Future steps for this work include incorporating a PCA approach across multiple sleep activity measures to identify a sleep component that can explain more of the variance associated with the ADHD subset. We will also investigate the association of sleep patterns to continuous measures of mental health across the entire dataset.

Authors

• Tyler L Larguinho, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Damion Demeter, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nick Jackson, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mackenzie E Mitchell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ashley Jacob
  Non-Presenting Author

• Neyra Garcia, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica A Church, University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author