The effect of one-night sleep deprivation on cognitive functions in healthy young adults

Serkan Pekçetin; Gülnur Öztürk; Buse Çetin; Levent Öztürk

doi:10.5935/1984-0063.20200066

The effect of one-night sleep deprivation on cognitive functions in healthy young adults

Sleep Sci. 2021 Jul-Sep;14(3):224-228. doi: 10.5935/1984-0063.20200066.

Authors

Serkan Pekçetin¹, Gülnur Öztürk², Buse Çetin³, Levent Öztürk⁴

Affiliations

¹ University of Health Sciences Turkey, Faculty of Gülhane Health Sciences, Department of Occupational Therapy- Ankara, Turkey.
² Trakya University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation - Edirne, Turkey.
³ Çorlu Public Hospital, Deparment of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation - Tekirdağ, Turkey.
⁴ Trakya University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology - Edirne, Turkey.

Abstract

Introduction: The effects of acute sleep deprivation on cognitive function have not been clearly elucidated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in cognitive function in healthy adults after one night of sleep deprivation.

Material and methods: Twenty-one healthy young adults (aged 18-30 years) underwent assessment of cognitive functions before and after one night of total sleep deprivation and an age- and gender-matched control group was assessed before and after a normal night sleep. Cognitive functions were assessed using the Montreal cognitive assessment (MOCA) and trail making test (TMT) parts A and B.

Results: General linear model repeated measures demonstrated an insigniﬁcant effect for time × group (sleep deprivation) interaction for MOCA, TMT Part A, and TMT Part B scores after one-night sleep deprivation (p>.05 for all).

Conclusion: A single night of sleep deprivation, which can be inevitable in modern society, had no signiﬁcant effect on cognitive performance in healthy adults.

Keywords: Adult; Cognition; Sleep Deprivation.