title: Eating Decisions Based on Alertness Levels After a Single Night of Sleep Manipulation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
abstract: To determine the relationship between an ecologically-relevant change in sleep behavior and its subsequent effects on daytime alertness and feeding behavior.
  
  
  
  Fifty healthy, young participants (10 male, 40 female) completed two 3-hour study sessions that were at least five days apart. The first session was a baseline evaluation. On the night prior to Session 2, the amount of time in bed was manipulated to be 60%-130% of the individual's habitual sleep time. Within both sessions, subjective (Stanford Sleepiness Scale) and objective (Psychomotor Vigilance Test) alertness were measured. During the middle of each session, a 40-minute ad libitum meal opportunity allowed participants to eat from eight different food items. Food healthfulness, caloric density, distribution, and number of calories were measured and compared to alertness levels.
  
  
  
  The induced variation in time in bed resulted in induced variation in both subjective and objective (p < .05) measures of alertness. Decreased subjective alertness was associated with increased total caloric consumption (p < .05), and a greater number of calories consumed from less healthy food (p < .05), as rated by both the investigators and by the participant. Decreased objective alertness was associated with less healthy food choices (p < .05), and the consumption of more food from the calorically-dense items (p < .05).
  
  
  
  Ecologically-relevant impairments in subjective and objective alertness are associated with increased caloric intake and dysfunctional eating decisions. People experiencing reduced alertness after modest sleep loss may be more willing to eat food they recognize as less healthful, and appear to prefer more calorically-dense foods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pardi
authors.affiliation: School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, Arizona State University. Phoenix, AZ.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University. Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Jed
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Sleep Wake Center, Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland, Heemstede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gert Jan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Lammers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University. Stanford, CA.|Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA.
authors.forename: Jamie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zeitzer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000523:psychology*; D012894:Sleep Stages; D014851:Wakefulness; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alertness; decisions; food choice; sleepiness; vigilance.