Circadian Phase and Time-of-Day Effects in Cognitive Testing: A Review of an Ignored Confound
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22680869Keywords:
Circadian Phase and Time-of-Day Effects in Cognitive Testing; Cognitive neuroscience; Neurofeedback; Evidence synthesis; Research methodologyAbstract
Circadian Phase and Time-of-Day Effects in Cognitive Testing has moved quickly from a niche scientific question to something a
wider community can now investigate with reasonably reliable tools, but the evidence behind it has not always kept pace. We pull
together the current evidence for circadian phase and time-of-day effects in cognitive testing, covering the methodological,
practical, regulatory and cost angles, with an eye on where practice has genuinely settled and where researchers and reviewers
are still largely working it out for themselves. Selective, context-specific pursuit looks better supported by the evidence gathered
here than either broad rollout or blanket avoidance.
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