The Effects of Total Sleep Deprivation and Recovery Sleep on Cognitive Performance and Brain Function

Abstract

Abstract : An ever-increasing number of military personnel and civilians alike must work daily without adequate sleep. Although considerable data show that sleep deprivation alters many aspects of behavior, little is known about changes in the brain substrate underlying the behavioral effects, and even less is known about the cerebral effects of recovery sleep. The overarching objective of this study is to investigate the effects of 2 full nights of sleep loss (66 hours total) and 2 full nights of recovery sleep on cognitive performance and brain function. We have studied 40 individuals for 6 nights and 6 days. Over the course of this period, subjects received 4 polysomnograms and 10 functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) sessions. During the FMRI sessions, functional brain imaging data was collected while subjects performed each of 3 cognitive tasks. These data provide a rich amount of information concerning the effects of prolonged total sleep deprivation and recovery sleep on cognitive performance and the cerebral underpinnings of that performance. Early analyses of these data are revealing the course of deterioration and recovery in cognitive performance, the specific component processes of cognition affected by sleep deprivation, and the changes in brain function associated with sleep deprivation. We have also initially reported distinct patterns of recovery for different sleep parameters after sleep deprivation, and the possibility of using the FMRI measures to identify neural correlates of vulnerability and resilience to sleep deprivation.