The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Motor Learning and the Brain: A Neuroimaging Study

Scolaro, Jordan

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Motor Learning and the Brain: A Neuroimaging Study

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2013ScolaroJ_release.pdf(31.25 KB)

Date

2013

Authors

Scolaro, Jordan

Advisor

Gillihan, Seth, 1975-

Department

Haverford College. Department of Psychology

Type

Thesis

Language

eng

Access Restrictions

Haverford users only

Terms of Use

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/

Abstract

Though there is extensive research on the effects of sleep deprivation (SD) on cognitive functioning and neural activity, gaps in the literature still remain regarding the effects of SD on motor learning. To test whether SD affects motor learning, 26 participants were subjected to a 5-day protocol, where they experienced one night of SD. During their stay in the laboratory, participants completed the fist-edge-palm (FEP) motor learning task before and after 35 hours of SD. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to capture brain images before and after SD. Results from the current study suggest that SD does not affect motor learning as tested by the FEP task. However, further analysis revealed that SD vulnerable participants, as categorized by performance on a task of sustained attention, showed a greater decrease in FEP performance post-SD as compared to SD resistant participants. Though the current study did not find an effect of SD on motor learning, results revealed that SD does in fact affect neural activity in areas including the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, middle frontal gyrus and parietal lobe. Overall, results from the current study suggest that motor leaning is a relatively stable process, and therefore, may only be affected by prolonged SD or in individuals who are especially vulnerable to the effects of SD.