CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS OF PSYCHOMOTOR VIGILANCE, MOOD, AND SLEEPINESS IN THE ULTRA-SHORT SLEEP/WAKE PROTOCOL

Mar 9, 2010Chronobiology international

Daily patterns of alertness, mood, and sleepiness during very short sleep and wake cycles

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

A sample of 25 healthy young adults underwent a 3-hour ultra-short sleep/wake protocol to assess circadian rhythms.

Circadian patterns were identified in psychomotor vigilance, mood, and sleepiness metrics.
Significant deterioration in mood was observed on day 2, while circadian patterns remained stable.
Performance and sleepiness did not show worsening on the second day compared to the first day.
The protocol involved alternating 1-hour sleep intervals in darkness with 2-hour wake intervals in dim light over 50-55 hours.
PVT metrics included mean and median reaction times, as well as the fastest and slowest response times.

AI simplified

Despite its advantages as a chronobiological technique, the ultra-short sleep/wake protocol remains underutilized in circadian rhythm research. The purpose of this study was to examine circadian rhythms of psychomotor vigilance (PVT), mood, and sleepiness in a sample (n=25) of healthy young adults while they adhered to a 3 h ultra-short sleep/wake protocol. The protocol involved 1 h sleep intervals in darkness followed by 2 h wake intervals in dim light, repeated for 50-55 h. A 5 min PVT test was conducted every 9 h with the standard metrics of mean reaction time (RT; RT(mean)), median RT (RT(med)), fastest 10% of responses (RT(10fast)), and reciprocal of the 10% slowest responses (1/RT(10slow)). Subjective measures of mood and sleepiness were assessed every 3 h. A cosine fit of intra-aural temperature, assessed three times per wake period, established the time of the body temperature minimum (T(min)). Mood, sleepiness, and PVT performances were expressed relative to individual means and compared across eight times of day and twelve 2 h intervals relative to T(min). Significant time-of-day and circadian patterns were demonstrated for each of the PVT metrics, as well as for mood and sleepiness. Most mood subscales exhibited significant deterioration in day 2 of the protocol without alteration of circadian pattern. However, neither sleepiness nor performance was worse on the second day of observation compared to the first day. These data provide further support for the use of the ultra-short sleep/wake protocol for measurement of circadian rhythms.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗

CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS OF PSYCHOMOTOR VIGILANCE, MOOD, AND SLEEPINESS IN THE ULTRA-SHORT SLEEP/WAKE PROTOCOL

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief