Activity Monitoring Equipment

To evaluate the impact of sleep and waking alertness on the operational success of Air Force personnel, a system of individual monitoring is required. Monitoring is essential for evaluating the operational readiness of critical personnel, predicting individual differences in performance during sustained operations and jet-lagshift work operations, and for use as a selection tool to identify individuals who may be better suited for particular missions. The current research was designed to implement the use of an unobtrusive ambulatory monitor Actiwatch-L, Mini-Mitter Corporation, Bend, Oregon to record ambient light level and wrist actigraphy of all subjects prior to the sleep deprivation jet-lag protocol and to develop and conduct near-real-time analysis of these sleep and light exposure data. Data collected from these individuals will be analyzed using our most recent mathematical model that predicts waking alertness and neurobehavioral performance as well as circadian phase from activity sleep-wake and light history.