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Does physiological hyperarousal enhance error rates among insomnia sufferers?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Edinger, JD; Means, MK; Krystal, AD
Published in: Sleep
August 1, 2013

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between physiological hyperarousal and response accuracy on reaction time tasks among individuals with insomnia. DESIGN AND SETTING: This study was conducted at affiliated Veterans Administration (VA) and academic medical centers using a matched-group, cross-sectional research design. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-nine individuals (48 women) with primary insomnia, PI (MAge = 49.8 ± 17.2 y) and 95 individuals (48 women) who were well-screened normal sleepers, NS (MAge = 46.9 ± 17.0 y). METHODS AND MEASURES: Participants underwent 3 nights of polysomnography followed by daytime testing with a four-trial Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT). Before each MSLT nap, they rated their sleepiness and completed computer-administered reaction time tasks. The mean number of correct and error responses made by each participant across testing trials served as dependent measures. The PI and NS groups were each subdivided into alert (e.g., MSLT mean onset latency > 8 min) and sleepy (e.g., MSLT mean onset latency ≤ 8 min) subgroups to allow for testing the main and interaction effects of participant type and level of alertness. RESULTS: Alert participants had longer MSLT latencies than sleepy participants (12.7 versus 5.4 min), yet both alert and sleepy individuals with PI reported greater sleepiness than NS. Alert participants also showed lower sleep efficiencies (83.5% versus 86.2%, P = 0.03), suggesting 24-h physiological hyperarousal particularly in the PI group. Individuals with PI had fewer correct responses on performance testing than did NS, whereas a significant group × alertness interaction (P = 0.0013) showed greater error rates among alert individuals with PI (mean = 4.5 ± 3.6 errors per trial) than among alert NS (mean = 2.6 ± 1.9 errors per trial). CONCLUSIONS: Physiological hyperarousal in insomnia may lead to more apparent daytime alertness yet dispose individuals with insomnia to higher error rates on tasks requiring their attention.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Sleep

DOI

EISSN

1550-9109

Publication Date

August 1, 2013

Volume

36

Issue

8

Start / End Page

1179 / 1186

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders
  • Reaction Time
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Polysomnography
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Edinger, J. D., Means, M. K., & Krystal, A. D. (2013). Does physiological hyperarousal enhance error rates among insomnia sufferers? Sleep, 36(8), 1179–1186. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2882
Edinger, Jack D., Melanie K. Means, and Andrew D. Krystal. “Does physiological hyperarousal enhance error rates among insomnia sufferers?Sleep 36, no. 8 (August 1, 2013): 1179–86. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2882.
Edinger JD, Means MK, Krystal AD. Does physiological hyperarousal enhance error rates among insomnia sufferers? Sleep. 2013 Aug 1;36(8):1179–86.
Edinger, Jack D., et al. “Does physiological hyperarousal enhance error rates among insomnia sufferers?Sleep, vol. 36, no. 8, Aug. 2013, pp. 1179–86. Pubmed, doi:10.5665/sleep.2882.
Edinger JD, Means MK, Krystal AD. Does physiological hyperarousal enhance error rates among insomnia sufferers? Sleep. 2013 Aug 1;36(8):1179–1186.
Journal cover image

Published In

Sleep

DOI

EISSN

1550-9109

Publication Date

August 1, 2013

Volume

36

Issue

8

Start / End Page

1179 / 1186

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders
  • Reaction Time
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Polysomnography
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female