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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Sleep and Circadian Rhythms
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1559969
This article is part of the Research Topic Sleep and cognition: The role of sleep patterns and deprivation in memory and learning View all articles
The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults: Insights from Auditory P300 and Reaction Time Analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1 Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, China
- 2 Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, Tianjin Municipality, China
AbstractObjective: This study aims to explore the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive function in healthy adults, using auditory P300 event-related potentials and subjective reaction time as key assessment metrics. Method: High-density electroencephalography (EEG) and the oddball paradigm were utilized to collect P300 event-related potentials (ERPs) before and after the sleep deprivation intervention, with a record of subjective reaction time. Participants were classified into acute sleep deprivation group and chronic sleep deprivation group based on the duration of their night shift history.Results: Following sleep deprivation, a significant prolongation in P300 latency and reaction time was observed among 26 subjects (P < 0.05). Specifically, the reaction time in the acute group increased significantly by 83.69 ms after sleep deprivation (P < 0.05). In contrast, the reaction time in the chronic group exhibited only a minor increase of 6.54 ms (P < 0.05). Furthermore, a significant interaction effect between the duration of night shift history and sleep condition on reaction time was identified [F(a b) = 4.736, P = 0.040, p2 = 0.165], suggesting that the influence of sleep deprivation on reaction time varies between the chronic and acute groups.Conclusion: Sleep deprivation induces cognitive impairment, with the acute sleep deprivation group experiencing more severe deficits. In contrast, the chronic sleep deprivation group demonstrated milder but chronic cognitive impairment.
Keywords: Sleep Deprivation, EEG, Event-related potentials, P300, Cognition
Received: 14 Jan 2025; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ren, Zhang, Mao and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhongkai Ren, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, China
Ziyue Zhang, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, China
Wei Wang, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin, China
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