The Effect of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Temporal Processing and Frequency Resolution in Normal Healthy Adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:The study aimed at evaluating the impact of 24 hours of sleep deprivation on temporal processing and frequency resolution in normal individuals with no history of neurological and psychological deficits. MATERIALS and METHODS:Sixteen individuals with normal hearing were included in the study. Temporal modulated transfer function, gap detection test, duration discrimination test, and pitch discrimination test were carried out in all of the individuals with a baseline evaluation, followed by an intra-test evaluation after 24 hours of sleep deprivation. RESULTS:The mean gap detection test values were elevated in sleep deprivation conditions as compared to the baseline condition. The temporal modulation transfer function scores were also increased in the sleep deprivation condition when compared to the baseline condition. Individuals performed poorly for the duration discrimination test and pitch discrimination test in the sleep-deprived condition. All tests showed statistical significance between the two conditions, with p<0.005. DISCUSSION:The reduced scores may be due to the effects of sleep deprivation on working memory, arousal, attention, concentration, and also reduced metabolism in the frontal lobe. CONCLUSION:This could indicate that sleep deprivation also affects central auditory processing, since temporal processing and frequency resolution form the neurobiological basis of central auditory processing. Hence, it can be put forth that an acute period of 24 hours of sleep deprivation was sufficient to significantly worsen temporal processing and frequency resolution abilities.

Effect of 24-hrs of sleep deprivation on Central Auditory Processing in young people - A Quasi-Experimental study

“…Our study findings are similar to other researchers who had also noticed significant changes in RGDT with sleep deprivation. 3,4 However, the RGDT values in our study were not statistically significant.…”

“…14,15 Aforementioned neurophysiological alterations in the brain might be the reasons for changes observed in auditory temporal resolution testing in our study and also by other researchers. 3,4 It is also important to notice that, we could not observe any significant changes in temporal processing after SD. We consider it could be due to differences in the age of study participants and sample size.…”

“…Interestingly, by online and literature search, we noticed that very few studies have explored this field. 3,4 The normal hearing process requires accurate functioning of all parts of the ear and their associated neural networks from the cochlea to cortex. Auditory processing or Central Auditory Processing (CAP) is a term used to describe those neurophysiological mechanisms that occur in the auditory system in response to sound stimuli.…”