Abstract
The effects of 28-h sleep loss on performance, reaction time (RT) distribution functions, and spectral composition of the EEG were evaluated in three choice-RT tasks for young (N = 12, aged 18-24 years) and old (N = 12, aged 62-73 years) subjects. Manipulations of stimulus degradation, stimulus-response compatibility, and interstimulus interval variability were to affect encoding, response selection, and motor adjustment stages, respectively. In order to discriminate between independent variables that were presumed to be computational or energetical in nature, effects on EEG spectra and PT-distributions were studied. Spectra of the EEG indicated higher cortical arousal levels for the elderly than for the young. The most dramatic effect of sleep loss on performance was a marked increase in the number of omitted responses. This effect was smaller for the elderly than for the young. The results suggest that the detrimental effects of sleep loss are smaller in the elderly, which is consistent with an inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance. The age effects on the processing stages were mainly limited to response selection. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 217-239 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Biological Psychology |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 1-3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Mar 1997 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | Workshop on Psychophysiology of Mental Resources - Mental Resources: Intensive and Selective Aspects - Amsterdam, Netherlands Duration: 5 Sept 1995 → 8 Sept 1995 |
Keywords
- Aging
- Arousal
- Electroencephalogram
- Performance
- Reaction time distribution
- Sleep loss
- Spectral analysis