Decision-Making Under Conditions of Sleep Deprivation: Cognitive and Neural Consequences

Abstract

Previous research has presented a mixed picture of the cognitive and neural consequences of sleep deprivation on decision-making. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine the neural changes associated with simple and integrated decision-making under conditions of sleep deprivation. When rested, regions of the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) were recruited to a greater degree for integrated decision-making (ID). After 24 hours of sleeplessness, there was minimal effect on simple decision-making but a clear vulnerability of ID to sleeplessness that was accompanied by a breakdown in task-specific neural activity in prefrontal cortex that, when rested, correlated with behavioral performance.

Notes

1. As a real-world example, one can consider an imbedded math problem such as (6 × 9) + (12/3). The problem requires the solving of each portion individually, holding those answers in mind and then performing the final operation by integrating the two previous solutions.