Manvir Bamrah

Undergraduate Research in the Neighborhoods

Sleep is essential for cognitive function, but circumstances often prevent individuals from getting enough sleep. Even one night of sleep-deprivation can impair cognitive abilities, particularly vigilant-attention and place keeping- functions critical for everyday tasks. Strategies to support cognitive performance after sleep deprivation are necessary, and blue light has been shown to increase alertness and brain activity. In the evening, participants completed a vigilant-attention task and a place keeping task before being randomly assigned to either the Sleep or Deprivation group. Half of the participants received 30 minutes of blue-light exposure. After light exposure, all participants completed the tasks again. Results are ongoing, but we expect that sleep-deprived participants will perform worse on both tasks, with blue-light exposure improving performance across both groups. While blue-light therapy shows promise in reducing sleep-deprivation associated cognitive effects, it is not a replacement for adequate sleep. As sleep-deprivation becomes increasingly prevalent, strategies to support cognitive performance are essential.  

Learn more about this and other research in the Neighborhood Engagement Centers.