Abstract
The relationship between sleep and emotion is not well understood. Existing studies typically link sleep and emotion based on subjective assessments- rarely are objective measures utilized to examine the interaction between sleep and emotion. Here, we determined the effect of 24 hours of sleep deprivation on a neurophysiological measures of attention to emotional stimuli through the use an electroencephalographic (EEG) event related potential (ERP) measure of emotion- the late positive potential (LPP). Each participant underwent two testing sessions between 7:00-9:00 am: the first session occurred five days prior to sleep deprivation (baseline testing), the second session occurred the morning after sleep deprivation. During each session participants viewed a variety of positive, neutral and negative pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). In addition to recording the average LPP to each picture type (negative, neutral and positive) we also recorded behavioral affective ratings of each picture. Cortisol levels and self reported anxiety (STA-Y) were taken before and after picture viewing during each session. We show that one night of sleep deprivation decreases the amplitude of the LPP in response to emotional stimuli with a concomitant decrease in behaviorally rated emotional valence. There was no change in cortisol after sleep deprivation. These findings suggest that a single night of sleep deprivation blunts the cognitive processing of emotional stimuli relative to cognitive processing of emotional stimuli after a typical night of sleep.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Jaime Tartar
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-13-2012 1:00 PM
End Date
4-13-2012 5:30 PM
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Neurophysiological Measures of Emotion and Biochemical Measures of Stress
Alvin Sherman Library
The relationship between sleep and emotion is not well understood. Existing studies typically link sleep and emotion based on subjective assessments- rarely are objective measures utilized to examine the interaction between sleep and emotion. Here, we determined the effect of 24 hours of sleep deprivation on a neurophysiological measures of attention to emotional stimuli through the use an electroencephalographic (EEG) event related potential (ERP) measure of emotion- the late positive potential (LPP). Each participant underwent two testing sessions between 7:00-9:00 am: the first session occurred five days prior to sleep deprivation (baseline testing), the second session occurred the morning after sleep deprivation. During each session participants viewed a variety of positive, neutral and negative pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). In addition to recording the average LPP to each picture type (negative, neutral and positive) we also recorded behavioral affective ratings of each picture. Cortisol levels and self reported anxiety (STA-Y) were taken before and after picture viewing during each session. We show that one night of sleep deprivation decreases the amplitude of the LPP in response to emotional stimuli with a concomitant decrease in behaviorally rated emotional valence. There was no change in cortisol after sleep deprivation. These findings suggest that a single night of sleep deprivation blunts the cognitive processing of emotional stimuli relative to cognitive processing of emotional stimuli after a typical night of sleep.
