Cognitive function following acute sleep restriction in children ages 10-14.
OBJECTIVE
Various aspects of human performance were assessed in children after sleep loss.


METHODS
Sixteen children (7 males, 9 females) between the ages of 10 and 14 years.


METHODS
Children were randomly assigned to either a control (CTRL) group, with 11 hours in bed, or an experimental sleep restriction (SR) group, with 5 hours in bed, on a single night in the sleep laboratory.


METHODS
Both groups were evaluated the following day with a battery of performance and sleepiness measures. Psychomotor and cognitive performance tests were given during four 1-hour testing sessions at 2-hour intervals.


RESULTS
A multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) documented shorter latencies for SR children than controls. Significant treatment differences were discovered in three of four variables of verbal creativity, including fluency, flexibility, and average indices. There were also group differences found on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), which may be indicative of difficulty learning new abstract concepts. Measures of rote performance and less-complex cognitive functions, including measures of memory and learning and figural creativity, did not show differences between groups, perhaps because motivation could overcome sleepiness-related impairment for these tasks.


CONCLUSIONS
Higher cognitive functions in children, such as verbal creativity and abstract thinking, are impaired after a single night of restricted sleep, even when routine performance is relatively maintained.
Randazzo
A C
AC
Unity Sleep Medicine & Research Center, St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield, MO 63017, USA.
Muehlbach
M J
MJ
Schweitzer
P K
PK
Walsh
J K
JK
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors