The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Continuous Performance Task Among Young Men With ADHD

Abstract

Objective: To identify the impact of sleep deprivation on functioning of young adults with or without ADHD on a continuous performance attention task. Method: Thirty-four men ( M age = 25.38) with ( n = 16) or without ( n = 18) ADHD completed a continuous performance task before and after 25 hr of sustained wakefulness in a controlled environment. Results: In both groups, sleep deprivation caused a decline in performance on all variables: omission errors, commission errors, reaction time, and reaction time variability. In addition, the ADHD group made more omission and commission errors, and had greater reaction time variability. Conclusion: Sleep deprivation has a detrimental effect on attention functioning among young adults. In addition, although young adults with ADHD generally perform worse on continuous performance tasks than young adults without ADHD, the groups are similarly affected by sleep deprivation.

The effects of sleep deprivation on the processing of emotional facial expressions in young adults with and without ADHD

“…The finding that sleep deprivation has deleterious effects on sustained attention and response inhibition is consistent with previous controlled studies conducted among young adults 22 and children 20 and with reports stating that sleep difficulties aggravate impulsivity and inattentiveness in children and adults with ADHD 26 , 27 . However, the finding that ADHD is associated with greater sensitivity to the negative effects of sleep deprivation on sustained attention and response inhibition is novel.…”

“…As we have previously described 22 , 24 , 39 , for the five days prior to the experimental trial, participants were instructed to go to bed every night between 23:00 and 24:00, wake up between 7:00 and 9:00, sleep at least seven hours per night, refrain from napping, and avoid drinking more than three caffeinated beverages per day. In order to monitor their sleep during this period and ensure that they went to bed as instructed, the participants wore an actigraph on each night.…”

“…As we have previously described 22 , 24 , 29 , participants wore actigraphs on their wrist throughout the entire experimental session to verify that they remained awake and that they stayed under the laboratory’s controlled conditions (25 °C, ~ 500 lx lights on continually, sunlight undetectable). Participants did not smoke or consume food or beverages containing caffeine or cocoa, and were served organized meals at scheduled times under supervision.…”

“…Specifically, 25–50% of children and adults with ADHD experience problems initiating and maintaining sleep 18 , 19 , which may contribute to their difficulties in vigilance, response inhibition, and other aspects of attention and in their ability to process emotional facial expressions. Lending support to this possibility, sleep deprivation tends to have a negative effect on sustained attention 20 – 22 and on the ability to identify emotional expressions 23 – 25 . Moreover, studies have demonstrated that sleep difficulties aggravate impulsivity and inattentiveness in children and adults with ADHD 26 , 27 .…”

“…Moreover, studies have demonstrated that sleep difficulties aggravate impulsivity and inattentiveness in children and adults with ADHD 26 , 27 . In controlled studies, sleep restriction or deprivation has been shown to negatively affect attentional capabilities of children 20 and adults with and without ADHD 22 . However, it is currently unknown whether sleep deprivation affects the attentional process involved in the detection of, and response to, emotional facial expressions in general, and among adults with ADHD in particular.…”