Sleep deprivation in rats produces attentional impairments on a 5-choice serial reaction time task.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a rodent model of the attentional dysfunction caused by sleep loss.


METHODS
The attentional performance of rats was assessed after 4, 7, and 10 hours of total sleep deprivation on a 5-choice serial reaction time task, in which rats detect and respond to brief visual stimuli.


METHODS
The rats were housed, sleep deprived, and behaviorally tested in a controlled laboratory setting.


METHODS
Ten male Long-Evans rats were used in the study.


METHODS
Rats were trained to criteria and subsequently tested in daily sessions of 100 trials at approximately 4:00 PM (lights on 8:00 AM-8:00 PM). Attentional performance was measured after 4, 7, 10 hours of total sleep deprivation induced by gentle handling.


RESULTS
Sleep deprivation produced a monotonic increase in response latencies across the 4-hour, 7-hour, and 10-hour deprivations. Sleep deprivation also led to increased omission errors, but the overall number of perseverative and premature responses was unchanged. Subgroups of rats were differentially affected in the number of omission errors and perseverative responses.


CONCLUSIONS
The effects of sleep deprivation on rats are compatible with a range of human findings on the effects of sleepiness on selective attention, psychomotor vigilance, and behavioral control. Rats also exhibited differential susceptibility to the effects of sleep deprivation, consistent with 'trait-like' susceptibility that has been found in humans. These findings indicate the feasibility of using the 5-choice serial reaction time task as an animal model for investigating the direct links between homeostatic sleep mechanisms and resulting attentional impairments within a single animal subject.
Córdova
Christopher A
CA
Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. La Jolla, CA 92053-0515, USA. cordova@ucsd.edu
Said
Bishoy O
BO
McCarley
Robert W
RW
Baxter
Mark G
MG
Chiba
Andrea A
AA
Strecker
Robert E
RE
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002755:Choice Behavior; D008297:Male; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D011930:Reaction Time; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000150:complications*