ABSTRACT
There are large inter-individual differences in slow wave sleep, which constitute a trait or phenotype. We investigated whether the manifestation of this trait is impacted by daytime sleeping after sleep deprivation, and to what extent it is robust to prior caffeine intake. N = 12 subjects underwent three 48 h periods of total sleep deprivation with different caffeine dosing regimens. There were significant, considerable, and robust inter-individual differences in slow wave sleep across nighttime sleep opportunities before, and daytime sleep after, total sleep deprivation, regardless of caffeine dosing. The robustness of this phenotype may have functional implications for individuals in around-the-clock operational settings.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) supporting the study, and the staff of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University for their assistance in data collection. This research was supported by Office of Naval Research grant N00014-15-1-0019.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The opinions and assertions contained herein are the views of the authors and are not to be construed as the views of the US Army or of the US Department of Defense.