Sleep is physiologically important for memory consolidation, mood and hormonal regulation, and maintaining low levels of systemic inflammation. However, a substantial proportion of people are reported to regularly sleep less than the recommended 7-9 hours a night. Meditation may be a means to mitigate the negative effects of sleep deprivation, as many types of meditations are associated with increasing high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), which is an index of parasympathetic control of the heart. Greater parasympathetic drive may be associated with physiological buffering of the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation.~The investigators want to conduct a waitlisted randomized control trial where subjects are asked to learn and practice a 15-minute meditation (shoonya meditation) or 15 minutes of alternate nostril breathing, twice a day. Subjects will be asked to complete some cognitive tests before and after a night of sleep and a night of sleep deprivation. During the night of sleep, participants will undergo polysomnography recording for sleep architecture and quality.~Subjects will be asked to undergo these same study procedures after 2 months of meditation practice, after which the alternate nostril breathing group will also learn shoonya meditation. Only this group will asked to undergo the same study procedures for a third time, after they have practiced shoonya meditation for 2 months.~In-state participants will be compensated $200 for each weekend, and out-of-state participants will be compensated $300 for each weekend.
This study aims to investigate the effect of a 15-minute meditation practice on sleep architecture and high-frequency Heart Rate Variability (HF-HRV), as well as cognitive performance after both a well-rested and sleep-deprived night.