Premium
The effect of sleep deprivation on memory and psychomotor function in healthy volunteers
Author(s) -
Quigley N.,
Green J. F.,
Morgan D.,
Idzikowski C.,
King D. J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(200004)15:3<171::aid-hup155>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - psychomotor learning , sedation , sleep deprivation , sedative , psychology , sleep (system call) , medicine , anesthesia , cognition , neuroscience , psychiatry , computer science , operating system
Benzodiazepines and other psychotropic drugs have been implicated in the production of memory deficits. The mechanism is unclear, but both a distinct pharmacological action and a non‐specific sedative effect have been suggested as being causal or contributory. These two postulated mechanisms of action may be examined separately by using sleep deprivation as a method of non‐pharmacological sedation. We measured psychomotor and memory functions in eight sleep‐deprived healthy volunteers and eight controls. There was both subjective and objective evidence of sedation, but memory function was not affected. These findings support the view that the effect on memory of psychotropic drugs is principally caused by a direct amnestic effect rather than by drug‐induced sedation. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.