Abstract:

Effects of sleep restriction on cognitive functions have been of considerable concern. Studies showed that effects of sleep restriction on cognitive performance were inconsistent and suggested that effects of sleep restriction on cognition would depend on cognitive domains (e.g. attention, executive function and long-term memory), the severity of sleep restriction, as well as demographic characteristics (e.g. age and gender). Four main possible hypotheses including the arousal hypothesis, the vigilance hypothesis, the controlled attention hypothesis and the prefrontal cortex vulnerability hypothesis have been put forward to explain the underlying mechanism. Further understanding of such mechanism could be facilitated by focusing on individual differences, effects of mild sleep restriction and employing the ASL Perfusion MRI technology.

Key words: sleep restriction, cognitive functions, cognitive domains, individual difference, underlying mechanism