165 - The Early Bird Catches the Worm…or Does It? Investigating the Effects of Acute Chronotypic Mismatch on Spatial and Haptic Abilities

Poster Board Number: 165
There are separate poster presentation times for odd and even posters.
Odd poster #s – first hour
Even poster #s – second hour

Co-authors:

Hossein Noyan, PhD - Assistant Professor, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Western University; Jean Langlois, MD - Emergency Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, CIUSSS de l’Estrie - Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke; Timothy Wilson, PhD - Associate Professor, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Western University

Abstract Body : Introduction and Objective




Circadian rhythms are the flexible internal cycles that regulate daily patterns of sleep and wakefulness, while chronotypes are the less malleable inclinations to sleep and work at certain times daily. Chronotypic subtypes include morning (MT) and evening (ET), reflecting the daily time of peak mental and physical activity. Although cognitive functions such as spatial (SA) and haptic (HA) abilities likely contribute to academic success in STEM disciplines—in which females remain underrepresented—their relationship to chronotype is unknown. This study’s objective is to determine if SA and HA differ when tested within (C⁺) or outside (C^-) of one’s chronotype preferences.









Methods




Undergraduate females were categorized as MT or ET using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). Participants completed SA and HA testing twice: at their C⁺ and C^- times, one week apart but within the same menstrual cycle phase. SA and HA were quantified using the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) and Haptic Abilities Test (HAT), respectively. The HAT consisted of 15 questions wherein participants matched an exemplar object to 1 of 3 options, in 2 conditions: sighted-haptic (SH-HAT) and haptic (H-HAT). Performance was evaluated via i) response time (RT) and ii) score achieved within the participant’s average RT per condition. MEQ scores are presented as mean ± standard deviation.









Preliminary Results




Participants (n=13, 18-20yrs) completed the MEQ and were categorized into ET (n=9, MEQ: 34.9 ± 5.6) and MT (n=4, MEQ: 64.3 ± 8.5) groups. MRT score was negatively correlated to SH-HAT RT on both C⁺ (r=-0.63; p=0.02) and C^- (r=-0.76; p=0.01) testing days. On C^- testing days, MRT score was positively correlated with SH-HAT score (r=0.68; p=0.03) and negatively correlated to H-HAT RT (r=-0.84; p=0.002). Comparisons within and between chronotypes on C^+/- testing days suggest that scores (MRT, SH-HAT, and H-HAT) and response times (SH-HAT and H-HAT) did not differ.









Conclusion




Initial results suggest that for tasks involving spatial abilities, testing female participants outside of their chronotypic

preference (C^-) affects their scores (MRT and SH-HAT) as well as response time (SH-HAT), while for tasks requiring exclusively haptic interactions, testing outside of their chronotypic preference (C^-) affects participants’ response time (H-HAT).









Significance




This work seeks to address a gap in the literature regarding the intersection of chronotype, spatial abilities, and haptic abilities in a female university student population. Given the relevance of SA and HA in STEM fields including anatomy, it is crucial to ensure that students of all chronotypic backgrounds receive equitable access to learning opportunities which covertly rely upon and integrate these skills.