Anderson Clare, Horne James A
Sleep Research Centre, Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK.
Sleep. 2006 Apr;29(4):573-6. doi: 10.1093/sleep/29.4.573.
Although sleepiness appears to heighten distraction from the task at hand, especially if the latter is dull and monotonous, this aspect of sleep loss has not been assessed in any systematic way. Distractions are a potential cause of performance lapses (as are micro-sleeps). Here, we investigate the effects of sleepiness on a monotonous task, with and without distraction.
Repeated Measures 2 x 2 counterbalanced design, comprising Sleepiness (night sleep restricted to 5 hours x normal sleep) and Distraction (distraction x no distraction).
Participants underwent 30-minute sessions on the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (2:00 PM - 3:10 PM), with or without an attractive distraction to be ignored, under normal and sleep-restricted conditions.
Sixteen healthy young adults (mean age 21.10 years; 21-25 years [8 men; 8 women]) without any sleep or medical problems and without any indication of daytime sleepiness.
Normal sleep versus sleep restricted to 5 hours and distraction versus no distraction. Distraction comprised a television in the visual periphery, showing an attractive video that had to be ignored.
Psychomotor Vigilance Test performance was monitored, as were the participants' head turns toward the television via videocameras. There was a significant increase in both head turns and lapses during sleep restriction plus distraction. Moreover, sleepiness also increased head turns even during no distraction. Distracting effects of sleepiness were clearly evident during the initial 10 minutes of testing.
Distractibility is an important aspect of sleepiness, which has relevance to safety in the real world, eg, sleepy driving.
尽管困倦似乎会加剧对手头任务的注意力分散，尤其是当任务枯燥单调时，但睡眠不足的这一方面尚未得到任何系统评估。注意力分散是导致表现失误的一个潜在原因（微睡眠也是如此）。在此，我们研究困倦对单调任务的影响，有无注意力分散的情况均包括在内。
重复测量2×2平衡设计，包括困倦程度（夜间睡眠限制在5小时×正常睡眠）和注意力分散情况（注意力分散×无注意力分散）。
参与者在心理运动警觉性测试中进行30分钟的测试（下午两点至三点十分），在正常和睡眠受限条件下，有或没有一个需要忽略的引人分心的事物。
16名健康的年轻成年人（平均年龄21.10岁；21至25岁[8名男性；8名女性]），没有任何睡眠或健康问题，也没有任何白天困倦的迹象。
正常睡眠与睡眠限制在5小时，以及注意力分散与无注意力分散对比。注意力分散因素包括在视觉边缘放置一台电视，播放一段必须忽略的吸引人的视频。
监测心理运动警觉性测试的表现，以及通过摄像机记录参与者转头看向电视的情况。在睡眠受限且存在注意力分散时，转头次数和失误次数均显著增加。此外，即使在无注意力分散的情况下，困倦也会增加转头次数。在测试的最初10分钟内，困倦的注意力分散效应明显。
易受注意力分散影响是困倦的一个重要方面，这与现实世界中的安全问题相关，例如困倦驾驶。
