Hello and thank you for your interest in our project!

How and what will we measure ?

• Cognition and Perception — These measures will be assessed using a cognitive test, questionnaires, and interviews. All of these will be collected in person. The interviews and cognitive test will be conducted with the participant by one of the members of our team. The questionnaires will be conducted independently by the participant, but a member of our team will be present in case anything is unclear. Please be aware that all measures will take place in German (no English or alternative language will be available). On average, completing these measures should take 4 - 5.5 hours. These measures will likely be divided into two days; the sleep recording will take place on a third night within the same week.
• Sleep — Sleep will be recorded with electroencephalogram (EEG) at the participant’s house or their current residence (clinic, etc.). EEG is a non-invasive, painless technique that allows important brain activity to be recorded. It consists of applying a cap (similar to a hat) with 64 electrodes (this is what is recording the activity) to the participant’s head. Participant’s will be asked to sleep in the EEG cap overnight; they can remove the cap by themselves or with help from their family/guardians the next morning. A member of our team will later coordinate where to collect the EEG equipment. Additionally, one week prior to the EEG recording, participants will be asked to wear an activity measuring watch. This resembles a normal watch, but collects data on an individual’s sleep patterns throughout the week to determine if the EEG night was very different.

When and how many times are participants asked to join?

• This project is a longitudinal project, meaning that it wants to understand how certain phenomena change over the course of time. This project specifically wants to investigate how sleep, cognition, and perception change throughout the course of three years for each participant. If you are interested in this project, you will be requested to participate five times over the course of three years.

• At each time point, questionnaires, a cognitive test, and an overnight sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) recording will take place. Please be aware that these different measurements will likely take place on 2-3 different days within one week. The five time points are as follows:

  1. Baseline — This meeting will take place shortly after enlisting in the study
  2. 6 months after baseline
  3. 1 year after baseline
  4. 2 years after baseline
  5. 3 years after baseline

  Is any part of this dangerous?

  • In terms of methods... No.
    • This project investigates its research question using questionnaires, interviews, EEG, and an activity watch. None of these measures are invasive or known to cause harm; they can only be a bit time-consuming.
  • In terms of data... No.
    • All personal and medical data will be encrypted. This means that no conclusions about specific individuals can be concluded from the data.