Re-examining sleep׳s effect on motor skills: How to access performance on the finger tapping task?

Sofia Isabel Ribeiro Pereira; Felipe Beijamini; Roberta Almeida Vincenzi; Fernando Mazzilli Louzada

doi:10.1016/j.slsci.2015.01.001

Re-examining sleep׳s effect on motor skills: How to access performance on the finger tapping task?

Sleep Sci. 2015 Jan-Mar;8(1):4-8. doi: 10.1016/j.slsci.2015.01.001. Epub 2015 Feb 10.

Authors

Sofia Isabel Ribeiro Pereira¹, Felipe Beijamini¹, Roberta Almeida Vincenzi¹, Fernando Mazzilli Louzada¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Physiology, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.

Abstract

Here our goal was to determine the magnitude of sleep-related motor skill enhancement. Performance on the finger tapping task (FTT) was evaluated after a 90 min daytime nap (n=15) or after quiet wakefulness (n=15). By introducing a slight modification in the formula used to calculate the offline gains we were able to refine the estimated magnitude of sleep׳s effect on motor skills. The raw value of improvement after a nap decreased after this correction (from ~15% to ~5%), but remained significantly higher than the control. These results suggest that sleep does indeed play a role in motor skill consolidation.

Keywords: Daytime nap; EEG, electroencephalogram; ESS, Epworth Sleepiness Scale; FTT, finger tapping task; Finger tapping task; KSS, Karolinska Sleepiness Scale; MEQ, Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire; Motor skills; NREM, non-rapid eye movement; OI, offline improvement; SWS, Slow Wave Sleep; TST, total sleep time; WASO, wake after sleep onset.