Abstract
We examined the effect of sleep deprivation on self-motion perception (vection). We measured the strength of vection, its latency, and its duration in two conditions: Sleep-Deprivation and Normal-Sleep (by using the between-subject design). For the Sleep-Deprivation condition, participants did not sleep for about 20 hours. We also recorded subjective sleepiness with a subjective rating scale that was filled out by the participants. Results showed that vection strength did not differ between the two conditions. Sleep deprivation did not have any clear effect on vection. As expected, subjective sleepiness significantly increased following sleep deprivation. Further, subjective sleepiness significantly correlated with vection latency and duration only in the Normal-Sleep condition. Vection was immune to sleep deprivation. We conclude that when people are not deprived of sleep, sleepiness can enhance the perceived strength of vection.
Highlights
Sleep deprivation can modify human performance and perception [1]
We focused on new aspect of this vection, i.e. the effect of sleep deprivation on perceived vection strength
Very strong vection meant that participants perceived self-motion very naturally, as if they were moving throughout the stimulus presentation
Summary
Sleep deprivation can modify human performance and perception [1]. For example, sleep deprivation has been shown to enhance binocular depth inversion [2]. When exposed to a visual motion field that simulates the retinal optical flow generated by movement (for example, through walking or driving), we perceive the subjective movement of our own body This phenomenon is known as vection [16]. We focused on new aspect of this vection, i.e. the effect of sleep deprivation on perceived vection strength. Hunger [17] and alcohol consumption [34] have been shown to enhance vection From these facts, we could hypothesize that sleep deprivation somehow affects vection strength, because it could modify our internal bodily conditions. Ihaya et al (2014) [45] reported that when participants perceived stronger vection, their pupil sizes became larger It seems that stronger vection might induce higher arousal levels. We could hypothesize that sleep deprivation can modify vection strength like other factors as in the same manner described in this introduction
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