Cyberpsychologists at Nizhny Novgorod Lobachevsky University (NNGU) have introduced a digital platform named UnnCyberpsy, designed to study sleep patterns outside traditional laboratory settings. This development was reported by TASS through the university’s press service.
Sleep research often requires participants to stay in a lab, sometimes overnight. That setup can disrupt participants and compromise experimental purity. UnnCyberpsy creates a virtual environment for remote sleep study, enabling researchers to observe sleep dynamics without a lab stay, according to the university press release, attributed to Valeria Demareva, head of the cyberpsychology laboratory in the Faculty of Social Sciences.
The platform has demonstrated effectiveness in tracking sleepiness trends. Participants log their level of sleepiness at regular intervals, and the data feeds directly into the system. Results aligned with findings from conventional lab-based methods, signaling reliability in remote monitoring.
Traditionally, sleep studies focus on a single measurement snapshot. In contrast, UnnCyberpsy captures longitudinal changes, offering researchers a timeline of how sleepiness and related states evolve. The system employs a branched algorithm that enhances flexibility and allows the integration of new parameters as needed for ongoing experiments.
Demareva notes that the platform is scalable and suitable for studies where a participant’s condition is tracked cyclically. Looking ahead, the team plans to apply UnnCyberpsy to cognitive testing and other longitudinal assessments, expanding the scope beyond sleep to broader brain-behavior relationships.
Future work includes examining the links between sleep patterns and daily functioning, such as performance on cognitive tasks and real-world activities. Early findings suggest that remote sleep monitoring can yield data that parallels traditional methods while offering practical advantages for participants and researchers alike. The platform’s design supports iterative experimentation, enabling researchers to refine hypotheses as data accumulate over time. [Citation: TASS via the university press service]
Multiple researchers emphasize that remote sleep studies can reduce participant burden, improve experimental control, and accelerate data collection. By moving beyond the constraints of a single-session assessment, UnnCyberpsy provides a new framework for understanding sleep-wake dynamics and their impact on daily life. The approach aligns with growing interest in digital health tools that facilitate large-scale, longitudinal research while maintaining methodological rigor. [Citation: NNGU press release]