Sleep deprived and sweating it out: the effects of total sleep deprivation on skin conductance reactivity to psychosocial stress.

STUDY

OBJECTIVES

We examined how sleep deprivation alters physiological responses to psychosocial stress by evaluating changes in skin conductance.

DESIGN

Between-subjects design with one group allocated to 24 h of total sleep deprivation and the other to rested wakefulness.

SETTING

The study took place in a research laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 40 healthy young adults recruited from a university.

INTERVENTIONS: Sleep deprivation and feedback.

MEASUREMENTS AND

RESULTS

Electrodermal activity was monitored while participants completed a difficult perceptual task with false feedback. All participants showed increased skin conductance levels following stress. However, compared to well-rested participants, sleep deprived participants showed higher skin conductance reactivity with increasing stress levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that sleep deprivation augments allostatic responses to increasing psychosocial stress. Consequentially, we propose sleep loss as a risk factor that can influence the pathogenic effects of stress.