Adverse Effects of Modest Sleep Restriction on Sleepiness, Performance, and Inflammatory Cytokines

Total sleep restriction in humans is associated with increased daytime sleepiness, decreased performance, and hormonal/metabolic disturbances. The effects of mild chronic sleep restriction that mimic real life are not known. To assess the effects of modest sleep restriction from 8 to 6 h/night for 1 wk, 25 young, healthy, normal sleepers (12 men and 13 women) were studied for 12 consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. After 1 wk of sleep restriction, although subjects' nighttime sleep was deeper, subjects were significantly sleepier (multiple sleep latency test) and performed worse in four primary variables of psychomotor vigilance test (both P