The role of a short post-lunch nap in improving cognitive, motor, and sprint performance in participants with partial sleep deprivation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a post-lunch nap on subjective alertness and performance following partial sleep loss. Ten healthy males (mean age 23.3 years, s = 3.4) either napped or sat quietly from 13:00 to 13:30 h after a night of shortened sleep (sleep 23:00-03:00 h only). Thirty minutes after the afternoon nap or control (no-nap) condition, alertness, short-term memory, intra-aural temperature, heart rate, choice reaction time, grip strength, and times for 2-m and 20-m sprints were recorded. The afternoon nap lowered heart rate and intra-aural temperature. Alertness, sleepiness, short-term memory, and accuracy at the 8-choice reaction time test were improved by napping (P < 0.05), but mean reaction times and grip strength were not affected (P > 0.05). Sprint times were improved. Mean time for the 2-m sprints fell from 1.060 s (s(x) = 0.018) to 1.019 s (s(x) = 0.019) (P = 0.031 paired t-test); mean time for the 20-m sprints fell from 3.971 s (s(x) = 0.054) to 3.878 s (s(x) = 0.047) (P = 0.013). These results indicate that a post-lunch nap improves alertness and aspects of mental and physical performance following partial sleep loss, and have implications for athletes with restricted sleep during training or before competition.

Sleep and Cognition

“…Laboratory and field studies corroborate that scheduled exposure to bright light (for work) and darkness (for sleep) shifts the circadian clock to align completely with a night work/day sleep schedule [95,96]. As mentioned previously regarding post-lunch naps [12], short naps may also be useful for improving alertness during night shifts [91]. However, these countermeasures do not address the underlying cause of the problem, which is misalignment between circadian rhythms and the sleep and work schedule.…”

“…A unique study has also reported on the effects of a post-lunch nap on subjective alertness and performance following partial sleep loss. A short nap has been found to improve alertness, sleepiness, short-term memory and accuracy, but does not affect reaction times [12].…”

How Does a Short, Interrupted Recovery Break Affect Performance and How Is It Assessed? A Study on Acute Effects

“…Previous research has shown that the strategies implemented in the current study, systematic breathing and napping, have been proven to be supportive and performance enhancing. 17,26 Specifically, systematic breathing is known to increase parasympathetic nervous system activity and lower sympathetic nervous system activity 27,28 in terms of an increase in respiratory functioning, exercise tolerance or a decrease of dyspnea. 27 Napping (less than 30 min) has been shown to improve motor and sprinting performance 17,26 and also to influence hormone (eg, cortisol distribution) and cytokine secretion (eg, interleukin-6 suppression).…”

“…17,26 Specifically, systematic breathing is known to increase parasympathetic nervous system activity and lower sympathetic nervous system activity 27,28 in terms of an increase in respiratory functioning, exercise tolerance or a decrease of dyspnea. 27 Napping (less than 30 min) has been shown to improve motor and sprinting performance 17,26 and also to influence hormone (eg, cortisol distribution) and cytokine secretion (eg, interleukin-6 suppression). 29,30 Vgontzas et al 30 reported that cortisol levels dropped significantly compared with a control group during naps and increased significantly different during the postnap phase.…”

The Concept of Qailulah (Midday Napping) from Neuroscientific and Islamic Perspectives

“…Neuroscience advocates midday napping for the following cases: (a) response to sleep loss, i.e., replacement napping (Waterhouse et al 2007;Faraut et al 2011); in preparation for sleep loss, i.e., prophylactic napping (Jackson and Moreton 2013); or (c) simply nap for relaxation, i.e., appetitive napping (Mednick 2013). Even for individuals who, generally, get good sleep on a nightly basis, napping still may lead to considerable benefits in terms of mood, alertness, and cognitive performance (Milner and Cote 2009).…”