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 05 July 2008 03:29 BST

'Power failure' observed in sleep-deprived brains

Wednesday, 21 May 2008 08:30
A lack of sleep triggers moments of 'power failure' in the brain

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Researchers have discovered that the brain slips into periods of 'power failure' mode in people who are sleep-deprived.

Brain activity in people kept awake all night was found to have moments of near-normal function interspersed with severe drops in attention and visual processing.

The team behind the findings say they highlight the importance of preventing sleep deprivation in people who are doing critical tasks, like night driving.

Although sleep deprivation harms decision making and may increase on-the-job errors, sleep-deprived workers may not know they are impaired.

"The periods of apparently normal functioning could give a false sense of competency and security when, in fact, the brain's inconsistency could have dire consequences," study author Michael Chee said.

The scientists found the impact on the brain after studying images of brain activity in sleep-deprived and well-rested people.

Participants undertook a task that required visual attention to identify small and large letters.

Well-rested and sleep-deprived volunteers showed a range of reaction times.

Those participants with the fastest responses, both in sleep-deprived and well-rested conditions, showed similar patterns of brain activity.

However, well-rested and sleep-deprived participants with the slowest responses - also called attentional lapses - showed different patterns of brain activity.

Sleep-deprived people also showed reduced activity in brain regions involved in visual processing during attentional lapses.

As the brain becomes less responsive to sensory stimuli during sleep, reduced activity in these regions suggests that, during attentional lapses, the sleep-deprived brain enters a sleep-like state.

"To my knowledge, this is one of the first studies to look carefully at brain imaging during lapses of consciousness after sleep deprivation, the equivalent of 'blanking out'," said Dr Emmanuel Mignot at Stanford University.

"Lapses due to sleep deprivation are clearly different neurobiologically than lapses in well-rested people."

The research is published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
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