Effect of Sleep Deprivation on the Working Memory-Related N2-P3 Components of the Event-Related Potential Waveform

Abstract

Working memory is very sensitive to acute sleep deprivation, and many studies focus on the brain areas or network activities of working memory after sleep deprivation. However, little is known about event-related potential (ERP)-related changes in working memory after sleep loss. The purpose of this research was to explore the effects of 36 h of total sleep deprivation (TSD) on working memory through ERPs. Sixteen healthy college students performed working memory tasks while rested and after 36 h of TSD, and electroencephalography (EEG) data were simultaneously recorded while the subjects completed working memory tasks that included different types of stimulus materials. ERP data were statistically analyzed using repeated measurements analysis of variance to observe the changes in the working memory-related N2-P3 components. Compared with baseline before TSD, the amplitude of N2-P3 components related to working memory decreased, and the latency was prolonged after TSD. However, the increased amplitude of the P2 wave and the prolonged latency were found after 36 h of TSD. Thus, TSD can impair working memory capacity, which is characterized by lower amplitude and prolonged latency.

Recovery Sleep Attenuates Impairments in Working Memory Following Total Sleep Deprivation

“…In the present study, we analyzed ERPs to investigate the effects of 8 h of RS on working memory impairments induced by 36 h of TSD. Our previous results revealed that TSD signi cantly impairs accuracy in 2-back working memory tasks [43]. The current behavioral ndings demonstrate that 8 h of RS can improve both accuracy and the number of correct responses per unit time in such tasks.…”

“…Although the present behavioral and EEG data support our hypothesis that 8 h of RS can attenuate impairments in working memory caused by 36 h of TSD, we did not observe signi cant changes in all indicators identi ed in our previous study [43]. Insu cient sleep may lead individuals to provide conservative estimates of their performance, which may increase the likelihood of compensatory behaviors and protect against the negative consequences of SD [33].…”

“…The present study included 16 healthy male college students (mean age: 23 years; age range: 21-28 years). Although the effects of TSD on N2/P3 components related to working memory were reported in a previous study [43], the RS data are presented here for the rst time. All participants were right-handed and maintained good sleep habits (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) < 5 points) [44].…”

Total Sleep Deprivation Impairs Lateralization of Spatial Working Memory in Young Men

“…For working memory tasks, the effects of repetitive partial sleep deprivation (PSD) and TSD are not related to the level of execution load, and the effects of PSD are observed to be small ( Lo et al, 2012 ). Although in this study we only selected spatial working memory tasks, sleep deprivation also reduces the quality of information storage in pronunciation working memory ( Zhang et al, 2019 ) and damages the performance of the entire working memory system ( Peng et al, 2020 ).…”

Decreased P2 Waveform Reflects Impaired Brain Executive Function Induced by 12 h of Low Homeostatic Sleep Pressure: Evidence From an Event-Related Potential Study

“…Previous studies have found that sleep loss endangers individual physical and mental health, such as by increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity ( St-Onge and Zuraikat, 2019 ; Yu et al, 2019 ). It can also lead to a decline in individual cognitive functions, such as attention, working memory, executive function, and emotional management ( Killgore, 2010 ; Tantawy et al, 2013 ; Xie et al, 2015 ; Lo et al, 2016 ; Krause et al, 2017 ; Cunningham et al, 2018 ; Peng et al, 2020 ), leading to serious traffic accidents. Additionally, studies have shown that lack of sleep can make individual’s neural representation ability unstable ( Poh and Chee, 2017 ).…”