Sound insulation of bedrooms is expensive and typically only granted to residents living close to the airport. We plan to investigate the effects of various aviation noises on sleep under controlled laboratory conditions and to investigate whether some of the sleep disturbing effects can be mitigated by introducing broadband noise into the bedroom or by wearing earplugs.
The Federal Aviation Administration is interested in investigating inexpensive yet effective methods to mitigate the adverse effects of aviation noise on sleep. The sleep of up to 28 subjects will be monitored with polysomnography and actigraphy over 7 consecutive nights in groups of 4 exposed to various sound conditions (aviation noise; broadband noise; aviation noise plus earplugs; aviation noise plus broadband noise at various decibel \[dB\] levels). Subjects will fill out surveys, perform cognitive tasks and a hearing test before and after each sleep period. The study will be performed in the Chronobiology Isolation Laboratory (CIL) in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. This newly constructed facility includes 4 acoustically isolated bedrooms and a high-fidelity sound system. Eligible subjects are age 21-50, free of psychiatric conditions that preclude participation, and maintain a self-reported regular sleep schedule of 6-8.5 hours per night as verified by six days of ambulatory actigraphy and daily logs.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
27
The aviation noise (AN) night will expose subjects to a pre-programmed recording of aviation noise and alerts during sleep from 2300-0700.
The BN50 night will consist of exposure to continuous pink noise throughout the sleep period at a level of 50 A-weighted decibels (dBA).
The AN + EP night will consist of the aviation noise (AN) exposure with the addition of wearing earplugs overnight.
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Time Spent in Slow Wave Sleep and Rapid Eye Movement (N3 + REM)
Combined time spent in sleep stages N3 and REM in minutes, as measured by polysomnography (PSG).
Time frame: Days 2-7
Cognition Efficiency
Efficiency scores from 10 brief cognitive tasks are generated from accuracy \& speed of reaction/responding, represented here by standardized effect sizes, where higher scores indicate better performance. Test scores were adjusted for practice and stimulus set effects, and z-transformed based on average and standard deviation across all tests taken. Accuracy and speed across cognitive domains were calculated by averaging z-scores across the 10 tests, then averaged to calculate an efficiency metric. Scores between -0.2 and +0.2 suggest no effect on efficiency (0=population mean). Between -0.2 and -0.5 suggests a small negative effect (i.e. slightly less efficient). Between -0.5 and -0.8 suggests a moderate negative effect. Scores below -0.8 suggest a large negative effect. Between 0.2 and 0.5 suggests a small positive effect. Between 0.5 and 0.8 suggests a moderate positive effect. Scores above 0.8 suggest a large positive effect (i.e. significantly more efficient).
Time frame: Days 2-7
Cognition Speed
A single variable representing response time across 10 Cognitive tasks that cover a range of cognitive domains with known cerebral representation. Test scores were adjusted for practice and stimulus set effects, and z-transformed based on average and standard deviation across all tests taken. Speed across cognitive domains was calculated by averaging z-scores across the 10 tests. Higher scores reflect faster speed. Scores between -0.2 and +0.2 suggest no effect on speed (0=population mean). Between -0.2 and -0.5 suggests a small negative effect (i.e. slightly slower). Between -0.5 and -0.8 suggests a moderate negative effect. Scores below -0.8 suggest a large negative effect (i.e. significantly slower). Between 0.2 and 0.5 suggests a small positive effect (i.e. slightly faster). Between 0.5 and 0.8 suggests a moderate positive effect. Scores above 0.8 suggest a large positive effect (i.e. significantly faster).
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The AN + BN40 night will consist of the aviation noise (AN) exposure with the addition of continuous pink noise throughout the sleep period at a level of 40 dBA.
The AN + BN50 night will consist of the aviation noise (AN) exposure with the addition of continuous pink noise throughout the sleep period at a level of 50 dBA.
Time frame: Days 2-7
Cognition Accuracy
A single variable representing response time across 10 Cognitive tasks that cover a range of cognitive domains with known cerebral representation. Test scores were adjusted for practice and stimulus set effects, and z-transformed based on average and standard deviation across all tests taken. Accuracy across cognitive domains was calculated by averaging z-scores across the 10 tests. Higher scores reflect better accuracy. Scores between -0.2 and +0.2 suggest no effect on accuracy (0=population mean). Between -0.2 and -0.5 suggests a small negative effect (i.e. slightly less accurate). Between -0.5 and -0.8 suggests a moderate negative effect. Scores below -0.8 suggest a large negative effect (i.e. significantly less accurate). Between 0.2 and 0.5 suggests a small positive effect (i.e. slightly more accurate). Between 0.5 and 0.8 suggests a moderate positive effect. Scores above 0.8 suggest a large positive effect (i.e. significantly more accurate).
Time frame: Days 2-7
Driving Simulator Standard Deviation of Lane Position
The standard deviation of lane position reflects the extent (in feet) to which participants "swerve" within the lane in a virtual driving simulator, often used to investigate the effects of impairment on driving performance, where higher values represent worse performance.
Time frame: Days 2-7