Information for Study Participants

If you need to cancel your study, call or email to let us know.

• During daytime hours, email sleepresearch@ucsd.edu or call your study coordinator. Alternatively, you may also contact our team at (858) 246-2154.  
• If it is the night of the study, let us know before 7:00 p.m. by emailing or by calling (858) 822-2411. 

Instructions: 

1. Abstain from any alcohol the night before as well as the day of your appointment.
2. Limit any caffeine (i.e. coffee, tea, soda, and even chocolate) after 12 p.m. the day of your appointment.
3. Ensure your hair is clean and dry before your sleep study. Avoid creams, lotions, oils, gels, hair care products, etc., after washing your hair.
4. Remove acrylic nails and polish from your index fingers.
5. Avoid napping the day of your study (unless you have narcolepsy).
6. Eat as you normally would.
7. Take your medications as usual (unless your provider says otherwise).
8. Pack like you are staying the night at a hotel. Bring a toothbrush, pajamas or sleepwear, clothes for the next morning, and any other hygiene or personal grooming items you may need. Bringing makeup remover may be a good idea if you wear makeup or other cosmetics. If you have questions about other items you might need, sleep lab staff or your healthcare provider can provide more information and guidance on what to expect.  

9. When you arrive, please wait at the side entrance and call our night techs at 858-822-2411.

If you are coming for an MRI study, your clothing must contain no metal.

• Before an MRI:
  • Don't drink too many liquids prior to the scan.
  • Wear comfortable clothing without metal — wear pants and a shirt that have no metal buttons or zippers, and for women wear a bra without any underwire or metal hooks/clasps. We recommend to dress as if you are going to the gym. Jeans are acceptable but if you have pants without metal buttons or zippers that is preferable. If you have no bras without metal, then wear or bring a shirt you would feel comfortable walking down the hall from the restroom to the scanner room without a bra.
• During an MRI: 
  • You will need to remove all jewelry and remove everything from your pockets, so you may want to leave these items at home if you prefer.
  • There is an area at the building where you can change and store your clothes while you are being scanned.
• After an MRI:
  • MRI studies are not overnight studies. Typically these studies are finished before midnight, so you will return home after the study is completed.

See our contact page for maps and parking directions for all of our locations.

Note: MRI studies are not overnight studies. Typically these studies are finished before midnight, so you will return home after the study is completed.

• If you are coming for an overnight sleep study, the wakeup time is typically between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., and unless there are morning components to the study you are participating in, you will be free to leave after the technician has disconnected all of the monitoring equipment.
• There are showers at the sleep laboratory. You will have electrode gel in your hair in the morning, so if you require a shower before starting your day at work or elsewhere, let the technician know and they will provide you with towels.