Homeostatic sleep pressure and responses to sustained attention in the suprachiasmatic area.
Throughout the day, cognitive performance is under the combined influence of circadian processes and homeostatic sleep pressure. Some people perform best in the morning, whereas others are more alert in the evening. These chronotypes provide a unique way to study the effects of sleep-wake regulation on the cerebral mechanisms supporting cognition. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in extreme chronotypes, we found that maintaining attention in the evening was associated with higher activity in evening than morning chronotypes in a region of the locus coeruleus and in a suprachiasmatic area (SCA) including the circadian master clock. Activity in the SCA decreased with increasing homeostatic sleep pressure. This result shows the direct influence of the homeostatic and circadian interaction on the neural activity underpinning human behavior.
Schmidt
Christina
C
Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium. Christina.Schmidt@ulg.ac.be
Collette
Fabienne
F
Leclercq
Yves
Y
Sterpenich
Virginie
V
Vandewalle
Gilles
G
Berthomier
Pierre
P
Berthomier
Christian
C
Phillips
Christophe
C
Tinguely
Gilberte
G
Darsaud
Annabelle
A
Gais
Steffen
S
Schabus
Manuel
M
Desseilles
Martin
M
Dang-Vu
Thien Thanh
TT
Salmon
Eric
E
Balteau
Evelyne
E
Degueldre
Christian
C
Luxen
André
A
Maquet
Pierre
P
Cajochen
Christian
C
Peigneux
Philippe
P
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000378:metabolism; D017286:Polysomnography; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013493:Suprachiasmatic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology; D014851:Wakefulness; D055815:Young Adult
D008550:Melatonin