# Sleep and circadian timing: mechanisms of daytime sleepiness and impaired cognition in ADHD

> **NIH NIH P20** · EMMA PENDLETON BRADLEY HOSPITAL · 2021 · $199,279

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT/SUMMARY
Attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) affects nearly one in ten school-aged children. Although poor
sleep is reported in this condition and has been related to waking behavioral struggles of children with ADHD,
little is known about whether and how waking physiological sleepiness per se contributes to these behavioral
profiles. Indeed, other than sleep-related breathing disorders, mechanisms underlying poor sleep and
consequent physiological sleepiness are unknown. We propose two mechanistic targets within the sleep
regulatory domain to tie together daytime sleepiness and learning outcomes in ADHD. Thus, this COBRE
project uses an innovative laboratory study of operationally defined sleepiness, mechanisms of sleep
regulation and circadian timing, and working memory (critical for learning success in the classroom) in children
with and without ADHD. Our central hypothesis is that children with ADHD have underlying differences in
Process S, sleep homeostasis, and Process C, circadian timing. Our methodology will be to enroll n=100, 9-11
year-old children (IQ ≥ 80), 50 with confirmable ADHD and 50 typically developing controls (TDCs) into a
laboratory study. Following 2-weeks at home on a sleep schedule conforming to current recommendations (9
hours in bed) each child will come to the laboratory for three consecutive nights and days. All sleep in the lab
will be monitored by polysomnography. Across a set of aims we will examine mechanisms of sleep and
circadian regulatory processes, the level and pattern of physiological sleepiness per se, and the cognitive
consequences of sleepiness, i.e., working memory. Together, these aims will serve to increase knowledge
about the association of sleep homeostasis and circadian timing with ADHD symptoms, identify the role of
physiological sleepiness in waking performance of children with ADHD, and determine whether sleep
homeostasis regulation and/or circadian timing influence these outcomes. Our project will potentially inform
innovative interventions that may target sleepiness in children with ADHD while preparing the project leader for
an independent career at the intersection of sleep and clinical neurodevelopmental science.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10090153
- **Project number:** 1P20GM139743-01
- **Recipient organization:** EMMA PENDLETON BRADLEY HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Jared Meyer Saletin
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $199,279
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-06 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10090153

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10090153, Sleep and circadian timing: mechanisms of daytime sleepiness and impaired cognition in ADHD (1P20GM139743-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10090153. Licensed CC0.

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