Handedness correlates with actigraphically measured sleep in a controlled environment

The relationship between hand preference and duration of sleep was assessed in 40 healthy subjects using self-report estimates, sleep diaries, and wrist activity monitors during an uncontrolled 7-day at-home phase and during a controlled overnight stay in a sleep laboratory. Handedness was unrelated to any index of sleep duration when assessed in the unregulated home environment. In the controlled environment of the laboratory, however, greater right-hand dominance was positively correlated with more minutes of obtained sleep and greater sleep efficiency. Findings were consistent with previous reports which suggest measures of brain lateralization may be related to sleep and health but further suggest that these relationships may be easily obscured by extraneous environmental factors when assessed in an uncontrolled setting.