Regent’s University London is conducting a study on sleep and cognitive functions in neurodivergent children, led by Chartered Psychologist Dr Anna Joyce.
What is the purpose of the study?
For children with Down’s Syndrome and special educational needs and/or disabilities, there is limited understanding of how sleep affects ‘executive functions’. These are skills such as attention, inhibition and problem-solving, which are needed to control behaviour. The purpose of the study is to assess children’s sleep and executive functions at two time-points, six months apart. We want to see whether there are changes in children’s sleep over time, and whether these changes are associated with changes in their executive functions. We predict that better sleep will be associated with better executive function skills.
Who can take part?
We are looking for children who are aged 5 to 11 years, live in the UK, and have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including children with Down’s Syndrome.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
Your child will receive a £5 voucher and a certificate for participating each time they take part in the study (£10 in vouchers in total). After each session, we will send you a personalised report of your child’s sleep and performance on the executive function tasks, so you will be able to see how they have changed over six months.
Find out more and get involved
About the research team
Dr Anna Joyce is is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Regent’s University London, specialising in developmental psychology and sleep. Anna has led research investigating sleep and cognitive development in typical and atypical groups, including Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, and Autism. Anna is a chartered psychologist and an honorary lecturer at UCL.
Noah Fielder is a Research Assistant working in the psychology department at Regent’s University London. Noah has a special interest in sleep and developmental psychology. He completed his undergraduate and master’s degree at the University of Bristol, where he also worked on the Children of the 90’s study.
In collaboration with:
- Dr Ana Campos, Associate Lecturer at University of Bolton.
- Dr Lucy Wilde, Associate Lecturer at The Open University.
- Professor Chris Oliver at University of Birmingham.
- Dr Caroline Richards, Professor at University of Birmingham.