Abstract
Previous studies have reported significant changes in functional connectivity among various brain networks following sleep restriction. The cerebellum plays an important role in information processing for motor control and provides this information to higher-order networks. However, little is known regarding how sleep deprivation influences functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex in humans. The present study aimed to investigate the changes in cerebellar functional connectivity induced by sleep deprivation, and their relationship with psychomotor vigilance. A total of 52 healthy men underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after 36 h of total sleep deprivation. Functional connectivity was evaluated using region of interest (ROI)-to-ROI analyses, using 26 cerebellar ROIs as seed regions. Psychomotor vigilance was assessed using the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT). Decreased functional connectivity was observed between cerebellar seed regions and the bilateral postcentral, left inferior frontal, left superior medial frontal, and right middle temporal gyri. In contrast, increased functional connectivity was observed between the cerebellum and the bilateral caudate. Furthermore, decrease in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the postcentral gyrus was negatively correlated with increase in PVT reaction times, while increase in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the bilateral caudate was positively correlated with increase in PVT reaction times. These results imply that altered cerebellar functional connectivity is associated with impairment in psychomotor vigilance induced by sleep deprivation.
Highlights
Sleep deprivation is very common in today’s society, and most young people have experienced some degree of acute or chronic sleep loss due to continuous or shift work (Drake et al, 2004)
Our results indicated that decrease in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the postcentral gyrus was significantly negatively correlated with increase in fastest 10% reaction times of psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) (Figures 4A,E), while increase in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the bilateral caudate was significantly positively correlated with increase in fastest 10% reaction times of PVT (Figures 4B,C)
We investigated the effect of 36 h of sleep deprivation on the functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex
Summary
Sleep deprivation is very common in today’s society, and most young people have experienced some degree of acute or chronic sleep loss due to continuous or shift work (Drake et al, 2004). Animal studies have revealed that, in addition to cognitive impairment, lack of sleep causes disruptions in immune function (Mullington, 2009) These alterations in bodily homeostasis produce significant changes in behavior, including balance impairments, decreased attention, and reduced decision-making capacity, which may lead to mistakes or accidents at work (Drummond et al, 1999; Zhou et al, 2017). The functional link within the DAN decreases after TSD (Zhou et al, 2017) Dysfunction in these brain networks may be the foundation of profound changes in cognition and behavior during and after sleep deprivation (Krause et al, 2017). The present study aimed to investigate alterations of the cerebellar functional connectivity before and after sleep deprivation, and to determine the association between the cerebellar functional connectivity changes and alterations in indicators of PVT
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