Circadian and sleep/wake-dependent changes in top down versus bottom up attention processes

The central circadian clock organises our behaviours in ~24 hour rhythms, including daily sleep/wake cycles. Being awake when the master clock is promoting sleep increases the risk of accidents, injuries and fatalities. Attention impairment is heavily implicated in these negative outcomes. This thesis therefore addressed the urgent need to understand how the circadian system regulates the allocation of attention. The main finding was that the allocation of attention follows different circadian rhythms, depending on the level of task difficulty, both during the day and during the night. This research may inform the scheduling of tasks that require different levels of attentional engagement.