Trent University graduate student Rebecca Nader is conducting a new study about the sleep of teenage girls. The study is being supervised by two Trent professors.

The research will examine how sleep is related to the ability to learn. One of Rebecca's supervisors, Dr. Carlyle Smith, a sleep expert and recent recipient of the Trent Distinguished Researcher Award, reports that, "This is a groundbreaking study that will focus on how the sleep of teenage girls affects their ability to learn. We spend a third of our lives asleep and yet we still do not fully understand the importance of sleep for learning."

Another collaborator, Dr. Elaine Scharfe, notes that, "The teenage years are a time of great development. Adolescents are learning many important skills and, based on previous research we know that sleep is likely to play a very important role in this development."

Adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 14 are needed for the study. Each volunteer will sleep two nights in the sleep lab at Trent University and will need to complete a few assessments of their current thinking and learning skills. Parents are welcome to spend the nights in the lab with their daughter. Approximately one week after sleeping in the lab, each girl will come back to Trent to complete a comprehensive test of her cognitive abilities.

After completing the study, volunteers will be paid $50, receive a print of their brain activity during sleep and a photograph of themselves wearing the electrodes.

Appointments can be scheduled on weekends, weekdays or holidays.

Distribution: Peterborough, Regional