Abstract
Homeostatic sleep pressure can cause cognitive impairment, in which executive function is the most affected. Previous studies have mainly focused on high homeostatic sleep pressure (long-term sleep deprivation); thus, there is still little related neuro-psycho-physiological evidence based on low homeostatic sleep pressure (12 h of continuous wakefulness) that affects executive function. This study aimed to investigate the impact of lower homeostatic sleep pressure on executive function. Our study included 14 healthy young male participants tested using the Go/NoGo task in normal resting wakefulness (10:00 am) and after low homeostatic sleep pressure (10:00 pm). Behavioral data (response time and accuracy) were collected, and electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded simultaneously, using repeated measures analysis of variance for data analysis. Compared with resting wakefulness, the participants’ response time to the Go stimulus was shortened after low homeostatic sleep pressure, and the correct response rate was reduced. Furthermore, the peak amplitude of Go–P2 decreased significantly, and the peak latency did not change significantly. For NoGo stimulation, the peak amplitude of NoGo–P2 decreased significantly (p < 0.05), and the peak latency was significantly extended (p < 0.05). Thus, the P2 wave is likely related to the attention and visual processing and reflects the early judgment of the perceptual process. Therefore, the peak amplitude of Go–P2 and NoGo–P2 decreased, whereas the peak latency of NoGo–P2 increased, indicating that executive function is impaired after low homeostatic sleep pressure. This study has shown that the P2 wave is a sensitive indicator that reflects the effects of low homeostatic sleep pressure on executive function, and that it is also an important window to observe the effect of homeostatic sleep pressure and circadian rhythm on cognitive function.
Highlights
Sleep deprivation (SD) has become a common phenomenon in modern society
This study used event-related potential (ERP) technology to explore the impact of low homeostatic sleep pressure on executive function
Through ERP technology, we found that the P2 component changes significantly in the low homeostatic sleep pressure
Summary
Reasons for sleep loss include alcohol and coffee intake, technological development, and life stressors. These factors prevent people from getting high-quality sleep. Previous studies have found that sleep loss endangers individual physical and mental health, such as by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity (St-Onge and Zuraikat, 2019; Yu et al, 2019). Studies have shown that lack of sleep can make individual’s neural representation ability unstable (Poh and Chee, 2017). Studying the effects of SD on individual cognitive function has great applicative value
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