Effects of Morningness on Night Split Shift Performance

A sample of 28 students will be recruited and exposed to two conditions in a randomized, controlled, crossover study. They will be assessed with subjective (sleep diary) and objective sleep measures (sleep radar) for 2 days before the night shift, during the night shift and 2 days following the night shift. The simulated night shifts will last from midnight to 8am and will be divided into two halves (midnight-4am and 4am-8am), denoted as split-shift, and for each participant separated by at least 1 week. Based on the Horne-Östberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (median spilt) two groups are created, from which participants will be randomized to the two orders of the spilt-shift. Each hour on each shift the participants will complete: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, perceived performance and the following cognitive tests: Psychomotor vigilance test, Digit symbol substitution test, Working memory scanning test, Reversal learning test, and Visual search test. Data will be analyzed with linear mixed models with three fixed factors: Group (low vs. high morningness), shift (midnight-4am vs. 4am-8am), and hour and one random factor (participant).