Failure to Find Executive Function Deficits Following One Night's Total Sleep Deprivation in University Students Under Naturalistic Conditions

Abstract

Young adult male students participated in a naturalistic, group-design experiment to ascertain the effects of one night's total sleep deprivation (TSD) on performance of diverse executive function tasks presented as an extended, multitask battery. On the majority of component tasks in this battery, performance has been reported to be impaired following one night's TSD when tasks are administered in isolation. However, participants sleep deprived 35 to 39 hr showed few performance deficits among tests in this battery when compared with non-sleep-deprived controls. Sleep-deprived participants showed only poorer recognition memory and overconfidence in incorrect temporal judgments. Behavioral and physiological adaptation to chronically sleep-restricting lifestyles may confer resistance to the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation in high-functioning young adults.

Notes

¹One participant disclosed that he was partially color blind after participation, and his results from tests that rely on color discrimination were excluded. Another participant's thick accent precluded clear identification of his audio-taped responses, and such results for this participant were also excluded.

²The relative Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was the absolute VAS in millimeters divided by a participant's grand mean VAS over all tests.

^a n = 10–11 for TSDs and n = 12–14 for CTLs.

^b(Cohen's d) = (M CTL − M TSD)/[(SD TSD² + SD CTL²)/2]^1/2

*p < .05: differed significantly between groups on t and Mann–Whitney U tests.

^aMeans computed only for participants with both Day 5 and Day 8 testing: n = 9–10 for TSD participants and n = 11–12 for CTL participants.

^aTSD and CTL scores converted: scaled scores (M = 10, SD = 3), T scores (M = 50, SD = 10), percentile score (Mdn = 50).

^bUnconverted mean TSD, CTL, and comparator population values.

^cFAS = Verbal fluency using the letters F, A, and S.