Neural and Behavioral Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Risk Taking and Impulsivity
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2013
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
Sleep deprivation has been found to have robust effects on behavioral and neural processing including both behavioral and neural processes that are associated with risk taking and decision making. Our study examined risk taking behavior and risk-related neural activity before and after sleep deprivation. Risk taking and decision making was measured through the use of the Iowa gambling task (IGT) which is a virtual gambling task designed to simulate real situations of risk. The IGT assesses risk taking and decision making by presenting safe choices and risky choices and measuring an individual’s choice pattern as well as how it changes throughout the task. Using the IGT, we found that, contrary to expectations, individuals demonstrated significantly less risky behavior after sleep deprivation. However, individuals demonstrated more risky behavior than safe behavior throughout the experiment. We found more significant results in neural activation patterns, although we did not replicate the decrease in activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, frontal motor areas, and several mesolimbic-frontal regions including the midbrain, striatum, insula and anterior cingulate found in previous studies. Individuals demonstrated significant decreases in activation of several frontal regions, the inferior parietal lobule and the thalamus. Several regions demonstrated significant increases in activation following sleep deprivation including the insula, and frontal regions associated with motor functions contrary to previous findings. Finally, right insula activation was significantly negatively correlated with risky choices.