Showing papers by "Mathias Basner published in 2015"

How acute total sleep loss affects the attending brain: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.

Abstract: Study objectives Attention is a cognitive domain that can be severely affected by sleep deprivation. Previous neuroimaging studies have used different attention paradigms and reported both increased and reduced brain activation after sleep deprivation. However, due to large variability in sleep deprivation protocols, task paradigms, experimental designs, characteristics of subject populations, and imaging techniques, there is no consensus regarding the effects of sleep loss on the attending brain. The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify brain activations that are commonly altered by acute total sleep deprivation across different attention tasks. Design Coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of performance on attention tasks during experimental sleep deprivation. Methods The current version of the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach was used for meta-analysis. The authors searched published articles and identified 11 sleep deprivation neuroimaging studies using different attention tasks with a total of 185 participants, equaling 81 foci for ALE analysis. Results The meta-analysis revealed significantly reduced brain activation in multiple regions following sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness, including bilateral intraparietal sulcus, bilateral insula, right prefrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, and right parahippocampal gyrus. Increased activation was found only in bilateral thalamus after sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness. Conclusion Acute total sleep deprivation decreases brain activation in the fronto-parietal attention network (prefrontal cortex and intraparietal sulcus) and in the salience network (insula and medial frontal cortex). Increased thalamic activation after sleep deprivation may reflect a complex interaction between the de-arousing effects of sleep loss and the arousing effects of task performance on thalamic activity.

Development and Validation of the Cognition Test Battery for Spaceflight

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Sustained high-level cognitive performance is of paramount importance for the success of space missions, which involve environmental, physiological, and psychological stressors that may aff ect brain functions. Despite subjective symptom reports of cognitive fl uctuations in spacefl ight, the nature of neurobehavioral functioning in space has not been clarifi ed. METHODS: We developed a computerized cognitive test battery ( Cognition ) that has sensitivity to multiple cognitive domains and was specifi cally designed for the high-performing astronaut population. Cognition consists of 15 unique forms of 10 neuropsychological tests that cover a range of cognitive domains, including emotion processing, spatial orientation, and risk decision making. Cognition is based on tests known to engage specifi c brain regions as evidenced by functional neuroimaging. Here we describe the fi rst normative and acute total sleep deprivation data on the Cognition test battery as well as several eff orts underway to establish the validity, sensitivity, feasibility, and acceptability of Cognition . RESULTS: Practice eff ects and test-retest variability diff ered substantially between the 10 Cognition tests, illustrating the importance of normative data that both refl ect practice eff ects and diff erences in stimulus set diffi culty in the population of interest. After one night without sleep, medium to large eff ect sizes were observed for 3 of the 10 tests addressing vigilant attention (Cohen ’ s d 5 1.00), cognitive throughput (d 5 0.68), and abstract reasoning (d 5 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to providing neuroimaging-based novel information on the eff ects of spacefl ight on a range of cognitive functions, Cognition will facilitate comparing the eff ects of ground-based analogues to spacefl ight, increase consistency across projects, and thus enable meta-analyses.

ICBEN review of research on the biological effects of noise 2011-2014.

Abstract: The mandate of the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) is to promote a high level of scientific research concerning all aspects of noise-induced effects on human beings and animals. In this review, ICBEN team chairs and co-chairs summarize relevant findings, publications, developments, and policies related to the biological effects of noise, with a focus on the period 2011-2014 and for the following topics: Noise-induced hearing loss; nonauditory effects of noise; effects of noise on performance and behavior; effects of noise on sleep; community response to noise; and interactions with other agents and contextual factors. Occupational settings and transport have been identified as the most prominent sources of noise that affect health. These reviews demonstrate that noise is a prevalent and often underestimated threat for both auditory and nonauditory health and that strategies for the prevention of noise and its associated negative health consequences are needed to promote public health.

A new likelihood ratio metric for the psychomotor vigilance test and its sensitivity to sleep loss

Abstract: The Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) is a widely used assay of behavioural alertness sensitive to the effects of sleep loss and circadian misalignment. However, there is currently no accepted PVT composite outcome metric that captures response slowing, attentional lapses and compensatory premature reactions observed typically in sleep-deprived subjects. We developed a novel likelihood ratio metric (LRM) based on relative frequency distributions in 50 categories of reaction times (RT) and false starts in alert and sleep-deprived subjects (acute total sleep deprivation: n = 31 subjects). The LRM had the largest effect size both in a 33-h total sleep deprivation protocol [1.96; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.61-2.44; followed by response speed 1/RT, effect size 1.93, 95% CI: 1.55-2.65] and in a chronic partial sleep restriction protocol (1.22; 95% CI: 0.96-1.59; followed by response speed 1/RT, effect size 1.21, 95% CI: 0.94-1.59; 5 nights at 4 h sleep per night; n = 43 subjects). LRM scores correlated highly with response speed (R(2 ) = 0.986), and less well with five other common PVT outcome metrics (R(2 ) = 0.111-0.886). In conclusion, the new LRM is a sensitive PVT outcome metric with high statistical power that takes subtle sleep loss-related changes in the distribution of reaction times (including false starts) into account, is not prone to outliers, does not require baseline data and can be calculated and interpreted easily. Congruence between LRM and PVT response speed and their similar effect size rankings support the use of response speed as the primary, most sensitive and most parsimonious standard PVT outcome metric for determining neurobehavioural deficits from sleep loss.

Phenotyping of Neurobehavioral Vulnerability to Circadian Phase During Sleep Loss

Abstract: The two-process model of sleep–wake regulation posits a neurobiological drive for sleep that varies homeostatically (increasing as a saturating exponential during wakefulness and decreasing in a like manner during sleep) and a circadian process that neurobiologically modulates both the homeostatic drive for sleep and waking alertness and performance. Endogenous circadian rhythms in neurobehavioral functions, including physiological alertness and cognitive performance, have been demonstrated using laboratory protocols that reveal the interaction of the biological clock with the sleep homeostatic drive. Acute total sleep deprivation and chronic sleep restriction increase homeostatic sleep drive and degrade waking neurobehavioral functions as reflected in sleepiness, attention, cognitive speed, and memory. Notably, there is a high degree of stability in neurobehavioral responses to sleep loss, suggesting that these individual differences are trait-like and phenotypic and are not explained by subjects’ baseline functioning or a number of other potential predictors. The Psychomotor Vigilance Test is an important tool for phenotyping as it is sensitive to acute total sleep deprivation and chronic sleep restriction, is affected by the circadian and sleep homeostatic drives, shows large intersubject variability in the response to sleep loss, and tracks recovery from sleep restriction. Careful phenotyping is critical to accurately predict human performance (and individual differences) in situations in which the circadian and sleep homeostatic systems are perturbed such as acute total sleep loss, chronic sleep restriction, intermittent sleep loss, shift work, and jet lag.

Wireless Monitoring of Changes in Crew Relations during Long-Duration Mission Simulation

Abstract: Group structure and cohesion along with their changes over time play an important role in the success of missions where crew members spend prolonged periods of time under conditions of isolation and confinement. Therefore, an objective system for unobtrusive monitoring of crew cohesion and possible individual stress reactions is of high interest. For this purpose, an experimental wireless group structure (WLGS) monitoring system integrated into a mobile psychophysiological system was developed. In the presented study the WLGS module was evaluated separately in six male subjects (27–38 years old) participating in a 520-day simulated mission to Mars. Two days per week, each crew member wore a small sensor that registered the presence and distance of the sensors either worn by the other subjects or strategically placed throughout the isolation facility. The registration between two sensors was on average 91.0% in accordance. A correspondence of 95.7% with the survey video on day 475 confirmed external reliability. An integrated score of the “crew relation time index” was calculated and analyzed over time. Correlation analyses of a sociometric questionnaire (r = .35-.55, p< .05) and an ethological group approach (r = .45-.66, p < 05) provided initial evidence of the method's validity as a measure of cohesion when taking behavioral and activity patterns into account (e.g. only including activity phases in the afternoon). This confirms our assumption that the registered amount of time spent together during free time is associated with the intensity of personal relationships.

Auditory and non-auditory effects of noise on health: An ICBEN perspective

Abstract: Noise is pervasive in everyday life and induces both auditory and non-auditory health effects. Noise-induced hearing loss remains the most common occupational disease in the United States, but is also increasingly caused by social noise exposure (e.g., through music players). Simultaneously, evidence on the public health impact of non-auditory effects of environmental noise exposure is growing. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ca. 1.6 Million healthy life years (DALYs) are lost annually in the western member states of the European Union due to exposure to environmental noise. The majority (>90%) of these effects can be attributed to noise-induced sleep disturbance and community annoyance, but noise may also interfere with communication and lead to cognitive impairment of children. Epidemiological studies increasingly support an association of long-term noise exposure with the incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Up-to-date exposure-response relationships are needed for health impact assessments, to reassess the validity of current noise policy and to better mitigate the negative health consequences of noise. The International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise (ICBEN) is a non-profit organization constituted 1978 that promotes all aspects of noise effects research and its application through International Noise Teams and an International Congress every three years.