Cited by 1,213Sleep and Work-Related FatigueSleep and Wakefulness ResearchMind wandering and attention

Sleep Deprivation and Vigilant Attention

Lim, Julian, Dinges, David F.·2008·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Sleep deprivation severely compromises the ability of human beings to respond to stimuli in a timely fashion. These deficits have been attributed in large part to failures of vigilant attention, which many theorists believe forms the bedrock of the other more complex components of cognition. One of the leading paradigms used as an assay of vigilant attention is the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT), a high signal-load reaction-time test that is extremely sensitive to sleep deprivation. Over the last twenty years, four dominant findings have emerged from the use of this paradigm. First, sleep deprivation results in an overall slowing of responses. Second, sleep deprivation increases the propensity of individuals to lapse for lengthy periods (>500 ms), as well as make errors of commission. Third, sleep deprivation enhances the time-on-task effect within each test bout. Finally, PVT results during extended periods of wakefulness reveal the presence of interacting circadian and homeostatic sleep drives. A theme that links these findings is the interplay of "top-down" and "bottom-up" attention in producing the unstable and unpredictable patterns of behavior that are the hallmark of the sleep-deprived state.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1196/annals.1417.002

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155 of 155 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The PVT needs a higher and, more probably, a sustained level of arousal than the SART test to get to optimal performance levels, since this task is much more monotonous with much fewer stimuli.

    “One could argue that the PVT needs a higher and, more probably, a sustained level of arousal than the SART test -which is not reached here -to get to optimal performance levels, since this task is much more monotonous with much fewer stimuli (e.g., [45]).”
  • Sleep-deprived individuals are consistently slower in responding to stimuli and more prone to errors of omission and commission.

    “Sleep-deprived individuals are consistently slower in responding to stimuli and more prone to errors of omission and commission27”
  • Measures of sustained attention are generally considered to be most sensitive to sleep loss.

    “Measures of sustained attention are generally considered to be most sensitive to sleep loss24,27.”
  • Sustained attention is seen as a prerequisite of more complex cognitive processes.

    “The latter is seen as prerequisite of more complex cognitive processes27,30.”
  • Acute caffeine exposure increased heart rate and decreased RTs in zebrafish.

    “increasing alertness with acute caffeine exposure increased heart rate and decreased RTs”

    From Ancestral Circuits for the Coordinated Modulation of Brain State (2017) · cites this paper as Lim and Dinges, 2008

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Authors
Lim, J., & Dinges, D. F.
Affiliations
University of Pennsylvania (US)
Corresponding author
Dinges, David F.
Venue
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2008-05
Volume
1129
Issue
1
Pages
305-322
ISSN
  • 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-6632
OpenAlex
W2036353017
Cited by
1,213
References
156
Citations by year
2026: 64 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 79 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 79 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 101 · 2019: 88 · 2018: 77 · 2017: 75 · 2016: 58 · 2015: 64 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 56
FWCI
4.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
Keywords
sleep deprivation, vigilant attention, psychomotor vigilance test, reaction time, response slowing, attentional lapses, commission errors, time-on-task effects, circadian rhythm, homeostatic sleep drive, top-down and bottom-up attention, sustained attention
MeSH terms
Central Nervous System Stimulants, Attention, Humans, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Sleep Deprivation

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