How dangerous is sleep deprivation? The effects of sleep deprivation on decision-making

Background: Sleep problems are a major public health issue. Although the negative impact of a lack of sleep on basic processes such as vigilance is well confirmed, the impact on higher cognitive processes such as decision making remains unclear.Objective: Does sleep deprivation affect decision making?Methods: Twenty-six participants (19 women, 7 men) aged 19 to 31 years (M = 22.6, SD = 3.3) participated in the sleep deprivation study online. The instruction was not to sleep for one night. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) assessed daytime sleepiness and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) measured sleep quality. Before and after sleep deprivation, decision-making behavior was measured by a decision task. Throughout the night, vigilance was assessed with a self-programmed vigilance test and subjective sleepiness was assessed with the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS).Results: The subjects' decision-making behavior was risk-averse on the mean and did not differ significantly before and after sleep deprivation, p = 0.27, eta(2) < 0.01. The vigilance test showed a significantly slower reaction time after sleep deprivation, p < 0.001, eta(2) = 0.11 and the SSS showed a significant increase in subjective sleepiness, p < 0.001, eta(2) = 0.35.Conclusions: Although the negative influence of sleep deprivation on wakefulness and vigilance could be confirmed, the effects on decision making were not significant. In the future, the timing of measurements and the length of sleep deprivation should be varied and the influence of caffeine should be examined.