Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia
Advertisement

Effect of Acute Sleep Loss on Women’s Working Memory

by Colleen Fleiss on February 2, 2018 at 12:33 AM
Effect of Acute Sleep Loss on Women’s Working Memory

Young women with acute sleep loss face a high working memory load, finds a team of sleep scientists from Uppsala University.

In the current study from the Department of Neuroscience at Uppsala University, 24 young adults performed a working memory task in the morning following either a full night of sleep or a night of wakefulness. Half of the participants were females, and half were males.

Advertisement


The set-up of the working memory task was to learn and remember 8-digit sequences. Contrary to expectations, males' working memory performance remained unaffected by sleep loss. In contrast, females remembered fewer digits after sleep loss than after a night of sleep. Importantly, even though their performance was reduced, females were unaware of the drop in working performance when sleep-deprived. A lack of awareness of impaired mental performance could increase the risk of accidents and mistakes, which can be dangerous in many private and occupational situations, both for the sleep-deprived person as well as for others.

"However, it must be kept in mind that we have not tested whether the observed sex-dependent effects of sleep loss on working memory during morning hours would also occur at other time points of the day. In addition, while our data suggest that sleep loss impairs working memory in a sex-dependent manner, this does not mean that the sex-differences we observed can be generalised to other mental or physical measures of how we are affected by sleep loss," says Frida Rångtell, PhD student at the Department of Neuroscience and lead author of the study.

Source: Eurekalert
Font : A-A+

Advertisement

Advertisement
Advertisement

Recommended Readings

Latest Women Health News

AI Tool Precisely Detects Postpartum Hemorrhage
An AI tool called Flan-T5 identified postpartum hemorrhage with 95% precision and detected 47% patients with the condition.
Active Scrutiny of Cervical Lesions Fuels Long-Term Cervical Cancer Risk
Active surveillance of cervical lesions was associated with higher cervical cancer risk in the long term compared to its removal.
Contraceptive Pills To Go Over-the-Counter Sale in Japan
Japan initiated the trial of selling morning-after contraceptive tablets over-the-counter in an effort to lower abortion rates and solace for rape victims.
Urinary Tract Infections Surge in Indian Women Due to Ignorance
The rising number of urinary tract infections (UTIs) among Indian women can be attributed primarily to social stigma and a lack of awareness.
Auto-Immune Disease of Pregnancy Linked to Fetal Heart Disorders
Pregnant women with Sjogren's or lupus syndrome have elevated anti-Ro/SSA antibodies which are linked to fetal atrioventricular block in the heart.
View All
This site uses cookies to deliver our services.By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Use  Ok, Got it. Close
×

Effect of Acute Sleep Loss on Women’s Working Memory Personalised Printable Document (PDF)

Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested

You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends.

Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice.

Name *

Email Address *

Country *

Areas of Interests