Sustained attention performance during sleep deprivation associates with instability in behavior and physiologic measures at baseline.
OBJECTIVE
To identify baseline behavioral and physiologic markers that associate with individual differences in sustained attention during sleep deprivation.


METHODS
In a retrospective study, ocular, electrocardiogram, and electroencephalogram (EEG) measures were compared in subjects who were characterized as resilient (n = 15) or vulnerable (n = 15) to the effects of total sleep deprivation on sustained attention.


METHODS
Chronobiology and Sleep Laboratory, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore.


METHODS
Healthy volunteers aged 22-32 years from the general population.


METHODS
Subjects were kept awake for at least 26 hours under constant environmental conditions. Every 2 hours, sustained attention was assessed using a 10-minute psychomotor vigilance task (PVT).


RESULTS
During baseline sleep and recovery sleep, EEG slow wave activity was similar in resilient versus vulnerable subjects, suggesting that individual differences in vulnerability to sleep loss were not related to differences in homeostatic sleep regulation. Rather, irrespective of time elapsed since wake, subjects who were vulnerable to sleep deprivation exhibited slower and more variable PVT response times, lower and more variable heart rate, and higher and more variable EEG spectral power in the theta frequency band (6.0-7.5 Hz).


CONCLUSIONS
Performance decrements in sustained attention during sleep deprivation associate with instability in behavioral and physiologic measures at baseline. Small individual differences in sustained attention that are present at baseline are amplified during prolonged wakefulness, thus contributing to large between-subjects differences in performance and sleepiness.
Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Singapore.
Eric Chern-Pin
EC
Chua
National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore.
Sing-Chen
SC
Yeo
Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Singapore.
Ivan Tian-Guang
IT
Lee
Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Singapore.
Luuan-Chin
LC
Tan
Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Singapore.
Pauline
P
Lau
Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Singapore ; Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Shiwei
S
Cai
Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Singapore ; Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore, Singapore ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
Xiaodong
X
Zhang
National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore.
Kathiravelu
K
Puvanendran
Program in Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Singapore.
Joshua J
JJ
Gooley
D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D044466:Asian People; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology*; D013826:Theta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
Sleep deprivation; instability; inter-individual differences; psychomotor vigilance; variability