Sleep restriction alters physiological and emotional responses to emotion induction

Sleep restriction alters physiological and emotional responses to emotion induction:

New Findings

The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of sleep restriction on self report and autonomic responses to neutral and sad film clips. Ratings of sadness and heart rate deceleration were greater while watching the sad clip, with no effect of sleep restriction; whereas heart rate variability and skin conductance were impacted by sleep restriction and to a lesser extent by film clips. Results suggest that autonomic function was adaptively altered by sleep restriction, so as to maintain a ‘normal’ response to emotional cues, despite mounting fatigue.

Abstract

Habitual insufficient sleep has long‐term health consequences via its impact on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) function and on emotion regulation. To our knowledge, the effects of insufficient sleep on emotion‐induced ANS function has not been tested. The present study aimed to address this lacuna. Using an emotion induction procedure, the effects of sleep restriction on physiological responses to validated neutral and sad film clips were assessed in a 2‐by‐2, pseudo‐randomized, cross‐over design. Thirty‐one participants, ages 20–33, were assessed after sleeping either 5 hrs (sleep restricted, SR) or 8 hrs (well rested, WR) per night, three consecutive nights. Physiological measures included heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), skin conductance response (SCR), and participants’ ratings of affect and fatigue. There was no effect of sleep condition on self‐reported negative affect, however watching the sad clip reduced self‐reported fatigue in the SR condition. There was greater HR deceleration while watching sad relative to neutral clips, independent of the sleep condition. SR increased HRV measures with no effect of emotion induction. There was an interaction of emotion induction by sleep condition for SCR, with more SCRs to sad relative to neutral clips in the WR condition, and the opposite effect in the SR condition. Combined the results suggest that ANS response to an emotional cue was altered by sleep restriction. The results suggest an adaptive ANS response to mild, but chronic, sleep restriction, resulting in constant HR response and self‐reported experience across well‐rested and sleep deprived conditions, despite mounting fatigue.

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