0265 WOMEN AND MEN ARE DIFFERENTIALLY AFFECTED BY SLEEP LOSS WITH RESPECT TO COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AND HUNGER REGULATION

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that cognitive performance and hunger regulation in humans are differentially altered in men and women following restricted or misaligned sleep. Whether these sex differences extend to a night of total sleep loss - a typical scenario for many shift workers - has not yet been investigated. The present crossover study involved 13 women and 12 men (matched for age, body-mass index, chronotype score, and daytime sleepiness). One night of total sleep loss was compared to one night with an 8-hour sleep opportunity, with respect to morning cognitive performance (procedural and spatial memory processing, as well as working memory performance) and hunger regulation (measured by plasma concentrations of the hunger hormone ghrelin and subjective hunger scores). The results were analyzed separately for the sexes in order to evaluate if the response to acute sleep loss is different in women and men. Following one night of total sleep loss, female participants showed deficits in working memory and procedural memory processing. In contrast, sleep loss did not alter spatial memory processing or hunger regulation in women. In men, acute sleep loss impaired processing of both spatial and procedural memories, whereas working memory performance remained unaltered. Moreover, circulating concentrations of ghrelin and hunger were elevated in men following acute sleep loss. The results of the present study highlight the importance of investigating possible sex differences when studying functions of sleep and health consequences of sleep loss in humans. This study was supported by AFA Försäkring; Novo Nordisk Foundation; the Swedish Brain Foundation; and the Swedish Research Council. The funders did not have any role in study design or interpretation of the results; nor in the writing process.