Abstract
Inadequate nightly sleep duration can impair daytime functioning, including interfering with attentional and other cognitive processes. Current models posit that attention is a complex function regulated by several separate, but interacting, neural systems responsible for vigilance, orienting, and executive control. However, it is not clear to what extent each of these underlying component processes is affected by sleep loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute sleep restriction on these attentional components using the Dalhousie Computerized Attention Battery (DalCAB). DalCAB tasks were administered to healthy women (aged 19–25 years) on two consecutive mornings: once after a night with 9 h time in bed (TIB), and once again after either another night with 9 h TIB (control condition, n = 19) or after a night with 3 h TIB (sleep restriction condition, n = 20). Self-ratings of sleepiness and mood were also obtained following each sleep condition. Participants showed increases in self-reported sleepiness and fatigue after the second night only in the sleep restriction group. Sleep restriction primarily affected processing speed on tasks measuring vigilance; however, performance deficits were also observed on some measures of executive function (e.g., go/no-go task, flanker task, working memory). Tasks assessing orienting of attention were largely unaffected. These results indicate that acute sleep restriction has differential effects on distinct components of attention, which should be considered in modeling the impacts of sleep loss on the underlying attentional networks.
Highlights
Most adults need, on average, about 8 h of sleep per night, and sleeping
Sleep characteristics and physiological responses to sleep loss have been shown to be affected by menstrual cycle phase [20, 21]; all participants were studied during the mid-follicular phase of their menstrual cycle, as determined by the self-reported timing of two immediately preceding menstrual cycles
Three of the five tasks that tap into executive mechanisms in this study showed impairment after sleep loss (i.e., Go/NoGo, Flanker, and Item Memory tasks)
Summary
Many people do not get enough sleep daily because of conflicting obligations, personal choices, health conditions, and other factors. Both acute and chronic sleep restriction are especially common among college-aged students [e.g. Attention is a fundamental mechanism underlying cognitive abilities that is affected by sleep debt. Effects of Sleep Restriction on Attention Networks related to reduced sleep in members of the military causes performance deficits in reaction times and accuracy, as measured by the Attention Network Test (ANT), and in continuous visual tracking [9]. The impacts of sleep loss on attention, and the consequences for cognitive performance, are far-reaching and may be applicable to a wide range of both clinical and otherwise healthy populations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
