Developing biomarkers of alertness: Biological determinants of vulnerability to alertness failure and biomarkers of alertness state

Sleep and circadian disruption are increasingly prevalent in today’s 24-hour society, due to sleep disorders, shift work and pressures on our time. These challenges have a profound impact on our safety and health, including an increased risk of sleepiness-related accidents. These negative outcomes could be prevented, however, if we had tools to measure and predict alertness levels more accurately. This thesis therefore aimed to develop biomarkers of alertness. The ability to predict alertness and intervene before an alertness failure occurs could directly reduce the risk of accidents and injuries, and their associated costs, and improve safety, performance and productivity.