The Stockholm Sleepy Brain Study: Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Young and Old

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of partial sleep deprivation (PSD) on resting state brain connectivity, emotional contagion, empathy, and emotional regulation.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sleep Deprivation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Partial sleep deprivation allowing 3 h sleep at night; Behavioral: Full sleep

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 98
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • None/Not Applicable
    • Stockholm, None/Not Applicable, Sweden, SE-17177
      • Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset i Solna

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 73 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 20-30 years of age, inclusive OR 65-75 years of age, inclusive
• Able to understand spoken and written Swedish (in order to understand instructions)
• Normal or corrected-to-normal vision not using glasses
• Not colour blind
• Right-handed
• Free from ferromagnetic objects in body
• No history of any neurologic or psychiatric illness including drug abuse

• No history of diabetes nor hypertension

  • No depression according to ratings using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD)
  • No insomnia according to ratings using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Karolinska Sleep Questionnaire (KSQ)
• No use of psychotropic drugs
• Not studying or working in medicine, psychology, nor behavioural science
• Not suffering from severe seasonal allergy
• No use of cortisone, anti-histamines, nor any other immune-modulating drugs
• Habitual intake of no more than 4 cups of coffee per day or the equivalent in terms of caffeine
• No daily use of nicotine

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Sleep deprivation; Partial sleep deprivation allowing 3 h sleep at night	Behavioral: Partial sleep deprivation allowing 3 h sleep at night; Participants sleep at home while monitored with ambulatory polysomnography. For the full sleep condition, they are instructed to go to bed and to get up at the usual times that they would normally do that. For the sleep deprivation condition, they are instructed to go to bed 3 hours before the time when they would usually get up, and then to get up at that time.; Other Names: Sleep restriction; Sleep loss
Experimental: Full sleep; Sleep with no restriction	Behavioral: Full sleep; Participants sleep at home while monitored with ambulatory polysomnography. For the full sleep condition, they are instructed to go to bed and to get up at the usual times that they would normally do that. For the sleep deprivation condition, they are instructed to go to bed 3 hours before the time when they would usually get up, and then to get up at that time.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Blood oxygen level-dependent response in amygdala to angry faces (t/z-score from statistical parametric mapping)	This registration is made in order to pre-specify hypotheses in a basic science project. For a full list of outcomes and hypotheses, see study description (above).	Change between 1st and 2nd MRI scanning session (approx. 1 month later)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mats Lekander
• Collaborators: Stockholm University
• Investigators: Study Chair: Torbjörn Åkerstedt, PhD, Stockholm University; Principal Investigator: Mats Lekander, PhD, Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet; Principal Investigator: Håkan Fischer, PhD, Stockholm University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Tamm S, Schwarz J, Thune H, Kecklund G, Petrovic P, Akerstedt T, Fischer H, Lekander M, Nilsonne G. A combined fMRI and EMG study of emotional contagion following partial sleep deprivation in young and older humans. Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 21;10(1):17944. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-74489-9.

Helpful Links

• List of hypotheses

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 13, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 26, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): December 3, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): May 16, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 13, 2016
• Last Verified: May 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Sleep; empathy; functional connectivity; resting state; emotional regulation; emotional contagion
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Dyssomnias; Sleep Wake Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Sleep Deprivation
• Other Study ID Numbers: Sleepy Brain Study Wave 1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified individual participant data will be shared through the openfmri.org data repository.