Thesis
Sleep Deprivation Impacts Physiological Responses to Repeated Acute Stressors Differentially
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005024
Abstract
When exposed to an environmental stressor, the brain activates homeostatic physiological stress systems, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axes. The reactivity of these axes can be assessed by peaks in salivary cortisol concentrations (SCC) and salivary α–amylase (sAA), respectively. When these stress responses are disrupted, the ensuing processes may not meet the environmental needs effectively. Total sleep deprivation (TSD) is among the factors shown to disrupt these systems. However, despite the prevalent occupational co-occurrence of sleep loss and stressor exposure, research has generally examined these factors separately. Furthermore, laboratory studies typically examine only one measure following exposure to a single acute stressor. Here, SCC and sAA reactivity to repeated acute stressors were investigated under well-rested and sleep-deprived conditions.N=20 healthy adults (ages 22–37; 12f) completed a 4-day/3-night laboratory-based study. Participants were randomized to a well-rested control (WRC) or TSD condition (n=10 in each). After a 10-hour baseline sleep opportunity, participants woke at 08:00. TSD participants were kept awake for 38 hours, while WRC participants received another 10-hour sleep opportunity. All participants ended the study after a 10-hour recovery sleep opportunity. On days 2 (baseline) and 3 (during WRC or TSD) participants completed two stressor sessions in a high-fidelity shooting simulator. Acting as police officers, civilian participants verbally interacted with emergency response scenarios and decided whether to use (simulated) deadly force. Seven saliva samples were collected each day: pre-stressor, and 0min, 15min, and 30min after each session. Samples were assayed in duplicate for SCC and sAA and normalized against the sample immediately before the first DFDM session (A).
There was no significant relationship between the magnitude of SCC and sAA stressor responses within participants in either condition. SCC peaked only in response to the first stressor session during both WRC and TSD; overall, the HPA axis response was blunted during TSD. In contrast, sAA peaked twice — once in response to each stressor session — during WRC; the SAM axis response to the second stressor session was blunted during TSD. These results suggest fundamentally distinct HPA and SAM axis responsivity to repeated acute stressors, with differential impacts of TSD.
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Details
- Title
- Sleep Deprivation Impacts Physiological Responses to Repeated Acute Stressors Differentially
- Creators
- Kirsie Rachelle Lundholm
- Contributors
- Kimberly A Honn (Advisor)John M Hinson (Advisor)Brieann C. Satterfield (Committee Member)Paul Whitney (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 46
- Identifiers
- 99901019234901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis