by Syble James

Created on: January 29, 2008   Last Updated: January 30, 2008

Sleep deprivation can impair immune functions, motor skills, overall metabolism including sugar metabolism specifically, and can also increase stress hormones.

The effects of sleep deprivation depend upon the age of the person, the length and extent of sleep loss (partial or total sleep loss), the circumstances under which sleep loss occurs, and whether sleep recovery takes place. Research has shown that there is significant difference in how individuals respond to sleep loss. Some individuals show minor effects while others show significant adverse effects.

Researchers studied the effects of one night of total sleep deprivation on reaction time in two groups of participants: healthy males with a mean age of 22 and healthy older males with a mean age of 58, all of whom were normal sleepers. The researchers found that, when well-rested, older participants had slower reaction times than younger participants.

However, after a night of total sleep deprivation younger participants had slower reaction times than older ones, which indicated that younger participants were more impaired as a result of sleep deprivation. In fact, the neurobehavioral functioning of the older adults after sleep deprivation was not significantly altered.

Another study funded by the Department of Defense investigated the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain, specifically in decision making, as well as how long it takes to recover from periods of total sleep deprivation. The researchers concluded that sleep deprivation has the same effect as alcohol intoxication. It significantly impairs attentiveness, working memory performance, and ability to drive. This last impairment is so serious that state troopers believe that the risk of causing an accident due to drowsiness is higher than the risk associated with inebriation.
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About 1,500 deaths a year result from vehicular accidents caused by drivers who are sleep deprived. In addition, another recent study shows that sleep deprivation can affect people's moral judgment and decision-making.

The researchers also found that after 36 hours of sleep deprivation, other regions of the brain can actually compensate for this level of sleep deprivation. Areas of the brain that aren't usually activated when a person is well rested "came online" when the person was sleep deprived. However, after 60 hours of deprivation, most participants did not perform as well on the tests as they had at the 36-hour mark. After two and a half days of sleep deprivation, the

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