Influence of Cognition and Physiological Function by Partial Sleep Deprivation

Partial sleep deprivation (PSD), is a common problem among current university students in Taiwan. Students often get inadequate sleep time due to burden schoolwork during exam period. In recent years, Issue of sleep quality has gradually been emphasized. According to previous research, lacking in sleep easily results in sleepiness, fatigue, and poor problem-solving performance. Sleep deprivation may also affects cognitive performance, like reducing working memory performance. Furthermore, sleep deprivation will probably alter autonomic nervous function, such as sympathetic/parasympathetic activity change. Previous researches also suggested that sleep deprivation may associated with the risk of being obesity or suffering from diabetes. However, most researches focused on the effects of total sleep deprivation, especially those who usually have night shift work, such as medical staff. Few studies investigated the cognitive function and physiological function of university students after a period of time of partial sleep deprivation. As a results, the aim of the study is to investigate how partial sleep deprivation affects the cognitive performance and physiological function before and after the final exam period in healthy young university students between 20 and 30 years old in Taiwan, in order to promote the importance of healthy sleep and improve sleep quality among university students.