Whats an “actigraph” or activity monitor?
Actigraphs are used in many of our Sleep for Science research projects. An actigraph is an electronic device that records levels of activity. It is about the size of a wristwatch and is worn on the non-dominant wrist throughout the day and night. The actigraph only records levels of activity; it does not record anything else. Recorded activity levels are helpful in determining when participants are awake and asleep. The actigraph should be worn as much as possible during wake and sleep, but may be removed for certain activities such as rough sports or water sports. Actigraphs are important to our research because they allow participants to go about normal daily activities without having to stay at our lab for extended periods of time.
