Effects of total sleep deprivation on execution lapses during vigilance tasks

ABSTRACT

Total sleep deprivation (TSD) results in reduced efficiency of cognitive resources. Moreover, when the available cognitive resources are less than required, individuals exhibit lapses in responsiveness. Accordingly, this study explored the effects of TSD on executive function and the characteristics of execution lapses. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor the prefrontal cortex’s functional connections in resting and tasking states for various sleep deprivation durations. Data from participants’ attentional performance test and self-reported fatigue were collected over 30 hours of wakefulness. Task performance was compared based on time of day, time on task, and reaction time. The results show that participants’ arousal level significantly decreased post 14 hours (P < .05), while sleepiness increased. The prefrontal cortex connection and attentional performance dropped at the Window of Circadian Low (3:00 ~ 6:00). The number of execution lapses was higher during the initiation, inhibition, and fatigue phases and rose markedly post 14 hours of wakefulness. We conclude that maintaining better inhibition control requires a reasonable extension of the reaction time. Moreover, subjective perception is significantly correlated with task performance and right prefrontal connection strength. This study presents the scientific evidence for measures to address consistently long working hours and disrupted circadian rhythms.

KEYWORDS:

• Total sleep deprivation
• executive function
• lapses of responsiveness
• brain functional connection

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the volunteers who participated in data collection and the laboratory provided by the School of Safety Science and Engineering.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Disclosure of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during this study are not publicly available due to the confidentiality principle of the private information of participants. However, they are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request ([email protected]).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1933122) and the Fundamental Research Fund for the Central Universities (3122019186).