The functional impact of sleep deprivation, sleep restriction, and sleep fragmentation

Abstract

The functional impacts of sleep deprivation, sleep restriction, and sleep fragmentation occur across multiple cognitive, affective, and physiological domains. Deficits associated with insufficient or fragmented sleep include greater sleepiness, impaired alertness and memory, mood degradation, and changes to brain activity and metabolism. Despite many qualitative similarities in the effects of sleep deprivation, sleep restriction, and sleep fragmentation, the magnitude and time course of these deficits vary substantially. The present chapter examines the impact of these three forms of sleep loss on healthy functioning and discusses the implications of this research for our understanding of the recuperative value of sleep.