ArticleSleep2025
Age-related vulnerability to sleep deprivation is task dependent and influenced by large inter-individual differences in younger adults.
Article in Sleep, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
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5 authors.
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Abstract
STUDY
objectivesHealthy older adults appear more resilient to sleep loss relative to younger adults, particularly with respect to the likelihood of falling asleep. We examined task-dependent differences in age-related vulnerability to sleep deprivation focusing on outcomes reflecting sleep-initiation (microsleep, slow eye movements [SEMs], electroencephalography [EEG] delta power, and long lapses > 3 s) versus other non-sleep-initiation aspects of impairment (adjusted mean RT/lapses, reflexive attention, and inhibitory control).
methodsSeventeen younger (M = 24.5 ± 3.2 years [range 21-33 years], 10 males) and 17 older (M = 57.3 ± 5.2 years [range 50-65 years], 9 males) healthy adults underwent 26 h of sleep deprivation. Test batteries (psychomotor vigilance test [PVT], Karolinska drowsiness test, and ocular motor paradigms) with simultaneous EEG were administered at regular intervals throughout.
resultsDuring sleep deprivation, younger adults had significantly more sleep-initiation events relative to older adults (p < .031) including EEG microsleep (average 4.4 vs. 1.1), SEMs (10.7 vs. 4.9), and relative delta power (38.1 vs. 24.2%). For non-sleep-initiation outcomes, interaction effects were not observed. Both younger and older groups had slower reflexive attention (4.2 and 3.1 ms, respectively) and poorer inhibitory control (8.6% and 9% more errors) during sleep deprivation relative to when well-rested (p < .001), with older adults being more impaired than younger adults overall (p < .001). Large inter-individual differences in sleep-initiation events were observed for younger adults. Preliminary results suggest women exhibited age-related differences in all sleep-initiation events (Hedges' g = 0.73 to 1.64), while men did not (g = 0.12 to 0.34).
conclusionsYounger adults are more likely to fall asleep during sleep deprivation, particularly women, while older adults may be more likely to exhibit attentional control difficulties.
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