The effect of acute sleep deprivation on visual evoked potentials in professional drivers.
OBJECTIVE
Previous studies have demonstrated that as little as 18 hours of sleep deprivation can cause deleterious effects on performance. It has also been suggested that sleep deprivation can cause a "tunnel-vision" effect, in which attention is restricted to the center of the visual field. The current study aimed to replicate these behavioral effects and to examine the electrophysiological underpinnings of these changes.


METHODS
Repeated-measures experimental study.


METHODS
University laboratory.


METHODS
Nineteen professional drivers (1 woman; mean age = 45.3 +/- 9.1 years).


METHODS
Two experimental sessions were performed; one following 27 hours of sleep deprivation and the other following a normal night of sleep, with control for circadian effects.


RESULTS
A tunnel-vision task (central versus peripheral visual discrimination) and a standard checkerboard-viewing task were performed while 32-channel EEG was recorded. For the tunnel-vision task, sleep deprivation resulted in an overall slowing of reaction times and increased errors of omission for both peripheral and foveal stimuli (P < 0.05). These changes were related to reduced P300 amplitude (indexing cognitive processing) but not measures of early visual processing. No evidence was found for an interaction effect between sleep deprivation and visual-field position, either in terms of behavior or electrophysiological responses. Slower processing of the sustained parvocellular visual pathway was demonstrated.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that performance deficits on visual tasks during sleep deprivation are due to higher cognitive processes rather than early visual processing. Sleep deprivation may differentially impair processing of more-detailed visual information. Features of the study design (eg, visual angle, duration of sleep deprivation) may influence whether peripheral visual-field neglect occurs.
Jackson
Melinda L
ML
Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. melinda.jackson@austin.org.au
Croft
Rodney J
RJ
Owens
Katherine
K
Pierce
Robert J
RJ
Kennedy
Gerard A
GA
Crewther
David
D
Howard
Mark E
ME
D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology
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