The Effect of a Continuous 1-Hour Time Delay on Circadian Rhythms
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age23-45
SponsorUniversity of Aarhus
About this trial
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the experience of a daily time delay can affect our internal circadian rhythm.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Healthy adults aged 23-45 years
Part of a heterosexual, cohabiting couple willing to participate together in a five-day in-laboratory study
Both partners meet all inclusion criteria
Completion of at least upper-secondary education
Disqualifiers
Engages in night-shift work or maintains an irregular work or sleep schedule
International travel involving a time-zone change of more than two hours within the past two months, or anticipated travel before study completion
Diagnosed neurological, psychiatric, or sleep disorder (e.g., insomnia, sleep apnea, bipolar disorder)
High risk of sleep apnea, defined as a Berlin Questionnaire score >2 (Lauritzen et al., 2018)
Trial design
Design model
Single group
Treatments tested in this trial
Fixed daily routine
BehavioralAll activities occur at the same time every day
Daily time delay
BehavioralAll activities will be delayed by one hour per day over a 5 day period.
Treatment groups
40 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Fixed daily routineExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Daily time delay of 1 hourExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Phase shift in circadian rhythm markers
The primary outcome is the timing of dim light melatonin onset, a marker of circadian phase. Saliva samples will be collected at regular intervals under dim light, and the time when melatonin exceeds 3 pg/mL will be recorded for each participant. This allows measurement of circadian phase shifts across conditions.
Time frame
Comparing samples on days 1, 3, 5Secondary outcomes
1
Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) Median Reaction Time
Median reaction time (milliseconds) on a brief psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) six times each day. Participants respond as quickly as possible to visual stimuli presented at random inter-stimulus intervals. For each block, the median reaction time is computed; additional indices such as lapses (responses \> 500 ms) may be derived. Changes in PVT performance across the the 5 days are analysed in relation to circadian phase.
Time frame
Performance will be measured at regular intervals on days 1 - 5 to track changes over the course of the study.Sponsors and contacts
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University of Aarhus
Lead sponsor
Independent Research Fund Denmark
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov