Sleep Deprivation And Recovery: The Effects Of P300 Three And Six Hours Post Recovery

The P300 waveform is an auditory evoked potential (AEP) elicited through a decision making process. Due to the endogenous nature of the P300 response, which requires participants to actively respond to an auditory stimuli, it has been used as on objective measure to evaluate the cognitive processes of attention and memory. Previous studies have looked at the P300 before and after sleep deprivation as well as after brief rest periods. Evidence shows that a decline in P300 amplitudes and increase in latency are seen after 24 hours of sleep deprivation and improvements in the P300 are seen after a recovery period. Limited research has been conducted on the effects on P300 amplitude and latency during post recovery periods of three or more hours. The present study was designed to determine the effects of P300 three and six hours post recovery using an oddball paradigm (standard = 1000 Hz; target = 2000 Hz). AEPs were recorded for five conditions: baseline, sleep deprived, 110 minute recovery, three hours post recovery and six hours post recovery. Measures of P300 amplitude and latency were taken from Fz, Cz and Pz electrode sites. Peak to base amplitude and peak to peak amplitude of the P300 were also measured. Fourteen college and university students ages 18-25 were included in this study. Results indicated a significant decrease in P300 amplitude from the six hour post recovery condition compared to the baseline (p \u3c .05) as well as the six hour post recovery condition and sleep deprived condition (p \u3c .05). There were no significant changes in P300 latency across conditions. The results suggest that three to six hours after a brief recovery period of 110 minutes, cognitive decline is exacerbated