Sleep Deprivation : Effects on Driving Performance and Central Fatigue
Condition: Healthy Volunteers
MeSH terms: Sleep Deprivation
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The effects of sleep deprivation (SD) on performance, while contradictory at first glance,
      are in reality rather clear when exercise duration is considered, i.e. intense/supramaximal
      versus prolonged exercises. This latter type of exercise leads to the most important
      performance decrements after SD.
    

Detailed description: 
      The effects of sleep deprivation (SD) on performance, while contradictory at first glance,
      are in reality rather clear when exercise duration is considered, i.e. intense/supramaximal
      vs. prolonged exercises. This latter type of exercise leads to the most important performance
      decrements after SD. However, the causes of this accentuated fatigability in endurance
      exercise with sleep deficit are not known. Several hypotheses have been proposed such as
      lower pH before exercise, lower ventilation due to depreciated response to
      hypercapnia/hypoxia, or haemodilution. Yet the most plausible explanation is a lower
      tolerance to prolonged exercise because SD increases the rate of perceived exertion. Another
      potential effect of SD is an alteration of central command during exercise. The literature is
      rather scarce on this topic and is only based on a few animal studies. In humans, no effect
      of SD on maximal strength has been reported so that maximal voluntary activation should in
      theory not be altered. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), that allows to induce a motor
      response from its cortical origin (and to measure the resulting contraction), is a promising
      tool to explore neuromuscular function. TMS has been used only in three studies after SD,
      none of them involving exercise and none of them measuring mechanical responses (i.e. only
      EMG responses, such as motor evoked potential, were measured). In addition, the results of
      these three studies are contradictory. The effects of SD on central fatigue (i.e. increase of
      the activation deficit during exercise) have never been investigated. The goal of this
      experiment is thus to test the hypothesis that an increase in central fatigue (at supraspinal
      level) in SD can participate to performance alteration during a prolonged exercise. For that
      purpose, measurements of neuromuscular function particularly dedicated to assess central
      fatigue will be performed before and after SD but also when combining SD and a fatiguing
      exercise conducted until exhaustion.
    

Intervention name(s): sleep deprivation; No intervention
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Overnight, the subjects stay in their homes (reading, watching TV, playing cards). Two experimenters will take turns to never leave them alone and avoid any micro-sleep.; Overnight, the subjects stay in their homes. No intervention during this night
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: effects of sleep deprivation; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; male, healthy volunteers