Robustness of inter-individual differences in slow wave sleep for daytime sleep periods after total sleep deprivation with or without caffeine administration: potential implications for around-the-clock operations

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Age effect
• caffeine gum
• circadian misalignment
• sleep architecture
• sleep phenotype
• stage N3 sleep
• trait individual differences

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.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research [N00014-15-1-0019].