A study explores impairment in human cognitive performance tied to sleep deprivation and alcohol intoxication. The effects of sleep loss on cognitive performance vary among individuals and resemble the effects of alcohol intoxication. In a series of experiments, Eva-Maria Elmenhorst and colleagues evaluated whether an individual's vulnerability to acute alcohol intake is correlated with impairment in cognitive performance induced by sleep deprivation. In a psychomotor vigilance task, 49 participants around 26 years of age were assessed for impairments in measures such as sustained attention and reaction time following alcohol intake, total sleep deprivation, or partial sleep deprivation. The authors found that participants who maintained cognitive performance following alcohol intake were more resistant to the effects of sleep deprivation than participants who exhibited increased impairment following alcohol intake. Additionally, in a PET analysis that included 10 participants around 31 years of age, the authors found that alcohol intake was tied to an increase of cerebral A1 adenosine receptors (A1AR) in several brain regions, an observation consistent with previous reports on A1AR changes following sleep deprivation. According to the authors, the findings carry implications for counteracting human cognitive impairment associated with fatigue and alcohol intoxication.
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Article #18-03770: "Cognitive impairments by alcohol and sleep deprivation indicate trait characteristics and a potential role for adenosine A1 receptors," by Eva-Maria Elmenhorst et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Eva-Maria Elmenhorst, German Aerospace Center, Cologne, GERMANY; tel: +49 22036014735; e-mail: <eva-maria.elmenhorst@dlr.de>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences