Age, performance and sleep deprivation.
J Sleep Res. 2004-06-01; 13(2): 105-110
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2004.00399.x
Lire sur PubMed
1. J Sleep Res. 2004 Jun;13(2):105-10.
Age, performance and sleep deprivation.
Philip P(1), Taillard J, Sagaspe P, Valtat C, Sanchez-Ortuno M, Moore N, Charles
A, Bioulac B.
Author information:
(1)Clinique du sommeil, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pellegrin, Bordeaux,
France.
Young subjects are frequently involved in sleep-related accidents. They could be
more affected than older drivers by sleep loss and therefore worsen their driving
skills quicker, or have a different perception of their level of impairment. To
test these hypotheses we studied variations of reaction time (RT), a fundamental
prerequisite for safe performing, as measured by lapses, i.e. responses > or =
500 ms and self-assessment of performance and sleepiness after a night awake and
after a night asleep in a balanced crossover design in young versus older healthy
subjects. Ten young (20-25 years old) and 10 older volunteers (52-63 years old)
were tested with and without 24 h of sleep deprivation. Without sleep
deprivation, RTs were slower in older subjects than in the younger ones. However,
after sleep deprivation, the RTs of young subjects increased while that of the
older subjects remained almost unaffected. Sleepiness and self-perception of
performance were equally affected in both age groups showing different perception
of performance in the age groups. Our findings are discussed in terms of
vulnerability to sleep-related accidents.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2004.00399.x
PMID: 15175089 [Indexed for MEDLINE]