Short paper

Preliminary fMRI findings in experimentally sleep-restricted adolescents engaged in a working memory task

Dean W Beebe^1,2 , Mark W DiFrancesco^2,3 , Sarah J Tlustos⁴ , Kelly A McNally⁴ and Scott K Holland^2,3

¹  Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

²  Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

³  Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

⁴  Psychology Department, University of Cincinnati College of Arts and Sciences, 2600 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

author email corresponding author email

Behavioral and Brain Functions 2009, 5:9doi:10.1186/1744-9081-5-9

Published:	19 February 2009

Abstract

Here we report preliminary findings from a small-sample functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of healthy adolescents who completed a working memory task in the context of a chronic sleep restriction experiment. Findings were consistent with those previously obtained on acutely sleep-deprived adults. Our data suggest that, when asked to maintain attention and burdened by chronic sleep restriction, the adolescent brain responds via compensatory mechanisms that accentuate the typical activation patterns of attention-relevant brain regions. Specifically, it appeared that regions that are normally active during an attention-demanding working memory task in the well-rested brain became even more active to maintain performance after chronic sleep restriction. In contrast, regions in which activity is normally suppressed during such a task in the well-rested brain showed even greater suppression to maintain performance after chronic sleep restriction. Although limited by the small sample, study results provide important evidence of feasibility, as well as guidance for future research into the functional neurological effects of chronic sleep restriction in general, the effects of sleep restriction in children and adolescents, and the neuroscience of attention and its disorders in children.