Cortisol is a salivary marker for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) component of the stress response. The activity of the HPA demonstrates a circadian rhythm. It is well known that sleep deprivation increases cortisol concentrations. In this study, we looked at the effect of an increase of one-hour sleep for one month on the circadian rhythm of the HPA.
Eight college subjects (n=8) collected saliva during their normal sleep wake cycle every 4 hours for 24 hours. Saliva collections were repeated after a month of increase of sleep by 1-hour. The subjects also completed demographic forms that asked for age, sex, time of last meal, smoker, caffeine consumption, time going to sleep, and time waking up. ELISA kits were used to analyze cortisol concentrations.
Salivary cortisol concentrations demonstrated a circadian rhythm, which revealed a significant peak at 0800h, which is consistent with the literature. The study shows that the total concentrations of salivary cortisol secreted over 24 hours as calculated by area under the curve (AUC) reveals that there is a significant decrease with increased sleep.
","abstract_html":"<p>Cortisol is a salivary marker for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) component of the stress response. The activity of the HPA demonstrates a circadian rhythm. It is well known that sleep deprivation increases cortisol concentrations. In this study, we looked at the effect of an increase of one-hour sleep for one month on the circadian rhythm of the HPA.</p> <p>Eight college subjects (n=8) collected saliva during their normal sleep wake cycle every 4 hours for 24 hours. Saliva collections were repeated after a month of increase of sleep by 1-hour. The subjects also completed demographic forms that asked for age, sex, time of last meal, smoker, caffeine consumption, time going to sleep, and time waking up. ELISA kits were used to analyze cortisol concentrations.</p> <p>Salivary cortisol concentrations demonstrated a circadian rhythm, which revealed a significant peak at 0800h, which is consistent with the literature. The study shows that the total concentrations of salivary cortisol secreted over 24 hours as calculated by area under the curve (AUC) reveals that there is a significant decrease with increased sleep.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Scott, Mariah Jacqueline"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS Microbiology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Roberta Moldow, Ph.D.","Jane Ko, Ph.D.","Heping Zhou, Ph.D.","Angela V. Klaus, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-10-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-10-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:33:15Z","subjects":["circadian rhythm","salivary cortisol","cognition","sleep-wake cycle","hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)","Biological Psychology","Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2213","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Roberta Moldow, Ph.D.","Jane Ko, Ph.D.","Heping Zhou, Ph.D.","Angela V. Klaus, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Scott, Mariah Jacqueline"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-10-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS Microbiology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["circadian rhythm","salivary cortisol","cognition","sleep-wake cycle","hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)","Biological Psychology","Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2213"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Cortisol is a salivary marker for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) component of the stress response. The activity of the HPA demonstrates a circadian rhythm. It is well known that sleep deprivation increases cortisol concentrations. In this study, we looked at the effect of an increase of one-hour sleep for one month on the circadian rhythm of the HPA.
Eight college subjects (n=8) collected saliva during their normal sleep wake cycle every 4 hours for 24 hours. Saliva collections were repeated after a month of increase of sleep by 1-hour. The subjects also completed demographic forms that asked for age, sex, time of last meal, smoker, caffeine consumption, time going to sleep, and time waking up. ELISA kits were used to analyze cortisol concentrations.
Salivary cortisol concentrations demonstrated a circadian rhythm, which revealed a significant peak at 0800h, which is consistent with the literature. The study shows that the total concentrations of salivary cortisol secreted over 24 hours as calculated by area under the curve (AUC) reveals that there is a significant decrease with increased sleep.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Effect of Increased Sleep on the Circadian Rhythm of Salivary Cortisol Concentrations"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Roberta Moldow, Ph.D.","Jane Ko, Ph.D.","Heping Zhou, Ph.D.","Angela V. Klaus, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Scott, Mariah Jacqueline"],"dc:date.available":["2016-10-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Cortisol is a salivary marker for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) component of the stress response. The activity of the HPA demonstrates a circadian rhythm. It is well known that sleep deprivation increases cortisol concentrations. In this study, we looked at the effect of an increase of one-hour sleep for one month on the circadian rhythm of the HPA.
Eight college subjects (n=8) collected saliva during their normal sleep wake cycle every 4 hours for 24 hours. Saliva collections were repeated after a month of increase of sleep by 1-hour. The subjects also completed demographic forms that asked for age, sex, time of last meal, smoker, caffeine consumption, time going to sleep, and time waking up. ELISA kits were used to analyze cortisol concentrations.
Salivary cortisol concentrations demonstrated a circadian rhythm, which revealed a significant peak at 0800h, which is consistent with the literature. The study shows that the total concentrations of salivary cortisol secreted over 24 hours as calculated by area under the curve (AUC) reveals that there is a significant decrease with increased sleep.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2213"],"dc:subject":["circadian rhythm","salivary cortisol","cognition","sleep-wake cycle","hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)","Biological Psychology","Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism"],"dc:title":["The Effect of Increased Sleep on the Circadian Rhythm of Salivary Cortisol Concentrations"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS Microbiology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:33:15Z"}