Alerting, orienting and executive control: the effects of sleep deprivation on attentional networks

Abstract

Sleep deprivation alters attentional functions like vigilance or tonic alerting (i.e., sustaining an alert state over a period of time). However, the effects of sleep loss on both orienting and executive control are still not clear, and no study has assessed whether sleep deprivation might affect the relationships among these three attentional systems. In order to investigate the efficiency of the three attentional networks--alerting, orienting and executive control--within a single task, we used the Attention Network Test (ANT). Eighteen right-handed male participants took part in the experiment, which took place on two consecutive days. On the first day, each participant performed a 20 min training session of the ANT. On the second day, participants remained awake for 24 h during which time the ANT was performed once at 5:00 p.m. and once at 4:00 a.m. Results showed an overall slowing of reaction times in the nocturnal session, indicating a strong decrease in vigilance. Furthermore, sleep deprivation did affect attentional orienting and executive control. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that the tonic component of alerting interacts with both attentional orienting and executive functions.

Physicians' attentional performance following a 24-hour observation period: do we need to regulate sleep prior to work?

“…ANT measures the efficiency of the three neuropsychological networks thought to contribute to the multidimensional make-up of sustained attention: alerting to prepare a person for fast reactions; orienting which involves the selective focus of attention to a stimulus; and executive control which requires conflict resolution, control in making decisions and detecting errors 8 9. ANT measures alertness through comparing a person's motor response to a computer-generated visual stimulus (reaction time, RT) both with warning signals and without warning signals (alerting effect).…”

Emerging adults’ sleep patterns and attentional capture: the pivotal role of consistency

“…We show that such effects are not restricted to laboratory-based sleep deprivation studies, but are also present when documenting college students' natural sleep cycles. Based on previous studies of sleep and attentional performance (Bratzke et al 2009;Cote et al 2008;Martella et al 2011;McCarthy and Waters 1997;Sadeh et al 2011), we expected that lower average sleep duration across 3 days would be associated with greater attentional capture. Though the trend was present, sleep duration by itself was not significantly associated with attentional capture, but this relationship was instead moderated by sleep variability.…”

“…In its most basic form, this flanker task requires observers to respond to the direction of a central arrow flanked on both sides by arrows pointing in either the same (compatible) or opposite (incompatible) direction. Sleep deprivation has been shown to have more detrimental effects on incompatible trials (vs. compatible), which require observers to inhibit a contrary response produced by the flanker arrows in favor of the correct response indicated by the center arrow (Jugovac and Cavallero 2012;Martella et al 2011).…”

“…When onset cues are not predictive of target location, attention toward a cue is thought to engage reflexive, attentional orienting, from which observers must disengage as they move their attention from the location of the cue to that of the target (Posner 1980;Posner and Raichle 1994;see Lupianez et al 2006 for a review). The effects of sleep on attentional orienting have been mixed with some studies showing that sleep deprivation/restriction results in larger reaction time (RT) costs for invalid trials (cues presented at nontarget locations) versus valid trials where the cue and target are presented in the same location (Martella et al 2011;Versace et al 2006), while others have found no such difference between sleep deprivation groups (Jugovac and Cavallero 2012; Martella et al 2014;Roca et al 2012). …”

“…Experimental manipulations of sleep deprivation or restriction on attention have been inconsistent, with studies showing no effects (Blinks et al 1999;Verstraeten et al 2004), selective effects (Jugovac and Cavallero 2012;Martella et al 2014;Roca et al 2012;Versace et al 2006) and systematic effects (Bratzke et al 2009;Cote et al 2008;Martella et al 2011;McCarthy and Waters 1997;Sadeh et al 2011) across attentional measures. Such inconsistencies may signal that the effects of sleep duration on cognitive performance are qualified by other aspects of emerging adults' sleep, such as variability in sleep patterns.…”