Effects of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Working Memory Capacity in Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Sleep is a necessary staple in our everyday lives but with advancements in society and an increase in day to day commitments it feels as though there is not enough time in the day. One of the first things to be forsaken in the hopes of maintaining a work schedule or routine is sleep. While the lack of sleep is disproportionate in most demographics, in university students in particular, a lack of sleep is a common, consistent, and necessary plague. Students can be under the impression that the effects of sleep deprivation have mostly long-term repercussions; however, prior literature has indicated that sleep deprivation impacts not just long-term consolidation but also significantly affects memory in the short-term, specifically the working memory (Xie et al. 2019; Chee et al., 2006). In this investigation, we seek to understand the effects that acute sleep deprivation has on the working memory capacity of individuals using a 2-back spatial test. A sample of convenience of upper-class undergraduate students was chosen and the participants were asked to take a specific 2-back spatial test - twice on a day that they subjectively felt as having a regular sleep schedule and twice on a day that they subjectively felt as having sleep deprivation. The team predicted that working memory 2-back task scores will be adversely affected by sleep deprivation. While there was a statistically significant difference in the working memory scores on the full sample level, this was not reflected on the individual level. This indicates that the effects of sleep deprivation are not generalizable to a full population and that they must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Furthermore, since greater variation was observed in the sleep deprived scores in all individuals, it implies that sleep deprivation may indirectly affect the consistency of working memory by affecting attention span and concentration.