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RecruitingNot ApplicableNCT07317349

The Effect of a Continuous 1-Hour Time Delay on Circadian Rhythms

Sponsor

University of Aarhus

Enrollment

40 participants

Start Date

Dec 20, 2025

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

SleepCircadian RhythmsTime Perception

Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the experience of a daily time delay can affect our internal circadian rhythm.

Eligibility

Min Age: 23 YearsMax Age: 45 Years

Inclusion Criteria8

  • Healthy adults aged 23-45 years
  • Part of a heterosexual, cohabiting couple willing to participate together in a five-day in-laboratory study
  • Completion of at least upper-secondary education
  • Maintain a regular sleep-wake schedule
  • Habitual sleep timing within a normative range (non-extreme chronotype), assessed using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) or the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ)
  • Both partners fall within the acceptable chronotype range to ensure aligned sleep-wake patterns
  • Low seasonality scores on the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ)
  • Free from underlying sleep or mood disorders

Exclusion Criteria10

  • 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)
  • Use of medications known to affect sleep, alertness, melatonin secretion, or circadian timing
  • Unable or unwilling to comply with behavioral restrictions, including refraining from electronic devices displaying time cues unless clocks are removed and devices are disconnected from Wi-Fi
  • Unable or unwilling to comply with consumption restrictions, including abstaining from caffeine, alcohol, and melatonin-rich foods during the study
  • Extreme chronotype, defined as a habitual midsleep time outside 03:00-05:00 on the MCTQ or classification as an extreme morning or extreme evening type on the MEQ
  • Daily caffeine consumption exceeding 400 mg (approximately 4-5 cups of coffee)
  • Current smoker or smoking within the past six months
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Interventions

BEHAVIORALFixed daily routine

All activities occur at the same time every day

BEHAVIORALDaily time delay

All activities will be delayed by one hour per day over a 5 day period.

Locations(1)

Aarhus University, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences

Aarhus, Denmark

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NCT07317349

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