Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34156468›Full record

Trial reportSleep2021

Slow-wave sleep during a brief nap is related to reduced cognitive deficits during sleep deprivation.

Michelle E Stepan, Erik M Altmann, Kimberly M Fenn

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Sleep, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Protecting episodic memory after sleep loss: Similar benefits of exercise and naps via distinct neural contributions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
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  4. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Michelle E StepanDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9109-0491
Erik M AltmannDepartment of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Kimberly M FennDepartment of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Michigan State University · USUniversity of Pittsburgh · US

Funding

Translational Research Training in Sleep MedicineT32HL082610 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Daniel J. Buysse, PETER L FRANZEN · 2007 to 2026
$5.8M
NHLBI NIH HHS T32 HL082610
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sleeping for a short period (i.e. napping) may help mitigate impairments in cognitive processing caused by sleep deprivation, but there is limited research on effects of brief naps in particular. Here, we tested the effect of a brief nap opportunity (30- or 60-min) during a period of sleep deprivation on two cognitive processes with broad scope, placekeeping and vigilant attention. In the evening, participants (N = 280) completed a placekeeping task (UNRAVEL) and a vigilant attention task (Psychomotor Vigilance Task [PVT]) and were randomly assigned to either stay awake overnight or sleep at home. Sleep-deprived participants were randomly assigned to receive either no nap opportunity, a 30-min opportunity, or a 60-min opportunity. Participants who napped were set up with polysomnography. The next morning, sleep participants returned, and all participants completed UNRAVEL and the PVT. Sleep deprivation impaired performance on both tasks, but nap opportunity did not reduce the impairment, suggesting that naps longer than those tested may be necessary to cause group differences. However, in participants who napped, more time spent in slow-wave sleep (SWS) was associated with reduced performance deficits on both tasks, effects we interpret in terms of the role of SWS in alleviating sleep pressure and facilitating memory consolidation.

Indexed as

Sleep DeprivationSleep, Slow-WaveCognitionHumansPsychomotor PerformanceSleepWakefulnessnapsplacekeepingpolysomnographysleep deprivationslow-wave sleepvigilant attention

Identifiers

PMID34156468
PMCPMC8598175
OpenAlexW3173233876

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.