Chronotype and Time of Day Effects in Oddball Task Performance: Behavioural and Cerebral Correlates

Jun 15, 2026Journal of sleep research

How Body Clock and Time of Day Affect Oddball Task Performance and Brain Responses

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Abstract

Overall reaction times during a task were longer in the evening compared to morning for extreme morning-type individuals.

  • Circadian rhythms and sleep-wake preferences may influence cognitive performance.
  • No significant differences were found in overall reaction time metrics based on chronotype or time of day.
  • For morning-type individuals, reaction times increased during the final third of the task in the evening session.
  • fMRI results indicated higher activation in the inferior frontal cortex at optimal times for each chronotype.
  • Increased activity in the medial orbitofrontal region at non-optimal times was associated with reduced task engagement.

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