Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 8;20(4):499-508.
doi: 10.1007/s41105-022-00396-3. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Effects of partial sleep deprivation on prefrontal cognitive functions in adolescents

Nurcihan Kiriş  1
Affiliations

Effects of partial sleep deprivation on prefrontal cognitive functions in adolescents

Nurcihan Kiriş. Sleep Biol Rhythms. .

Abstract

Purpose: The effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive functions associated with the frontal lobe, such as attention, executive functions, and working memory, is not well known. This study aimed to investigate the effect of partial sleep deprivation in adolescents on the cognitive tasks of the frontal lobe, including visuospatial working memory, processing speed, sustained attention, executive functions, and short-term visual memory.

Methods: Participants were recruited from voluntary students of Çukurova University. Eighteen adolescents underwent four consecutive nights of monitored sleep restriction (6-6.5 h/night) and four nights of sleep extension (10-10.5 h/night) in a counterbalanced order and separated by a washout period. Following each sleep period, the cognitive performance was assessed, at a fixed morning time, using a computerized neuropsychological test battery based on frontal lobe functions tasks, which was a timed test providing both accuracy and reaction time outcome measures.

Results: Only the spatial working memory performance of cognitive tasks was found to be statistically lower in the restricted-sleep condition than in the extended-sleep condition (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found in the performance of cognitive tasks evaluating simple attention, constant attention, executive functions, and cognitive flexibility.

Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated that partial sleep restriction negatively affects specifically working memory and strategic thinking skills among cognitive functions based on the frontal lobe. Especially the visuospatial working memory and strategic thinking skills of adolescents might be susceptible to chronic partial sleep deprivation.

Keywords: Adolescents; Cognitive functions; Partial sleep deprivation; Prefrontal lobe.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestI confirm that there is no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of study procedure
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Statistical comparison of SWM total error mean scores in restricted-sleep and extended-sleep conditions. SWMTE468: SWM total errors on 4-, 6-, and 8-box trials
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Statistical comparison of SWM strategy (6–8 boxes) mean scores in restricted- and extended sleep conditions. SWMS68: Spatial working memory strategy mean scores on 6-to 8-box trials
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Statistical comparison of SWM strategy (6–12 boxes) mean scores in restricted- and extended-sleep conditions. SWMS12: Spatial working memory strategy mean scores on 6- to 12-box trials
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Carskadon MA. Sleep in adolescents: the perfect storm. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2011;58:637–647. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2011.03.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wong ML, Lau EYY, Wan JHY, Cheung SF, Hui CH, Mok DSY. The interplay between sleep and mood in predicting academic functioning, physical health and psychological health: a longitudinal study. J Psychosom Res. 2013;74(4):271–277. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2012.08.014. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Klerman EB, Dijk DJ. Interindividual variation in sleep duration and its association with sleep debt in young adults. Sleep. 2005;28(10):1253–1259. doi: 10.1093/sleep/28.10.1253. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lo JC, Ong JL, Leong RLF, Gooley JJ, et al. Cognitive performance, sleepiness, and mood in partially sleep deprived adolescents: the need for sleep study. Sleep. 2016;39(3):687–698. doi: 10.5665/sleep.5552. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lim J, Dinges DF. A meta-analysis of the impact of short-term sleep deprivation on cognitive variables. Psychol Bull. 2010;136(3):375–389. doi: 10.1037/a0018883. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources