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Biomedical subjects

H Babkoff

Publications and source records attributed to H Babkoff.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Selected problems of analysis and interpretation of the effects of sleep deprivation on temperature and performance rhythms.

One of the major methodological-analytic problems encountered by researchers in sleep deprivation involves the examination and analysis of the relationship between sleep loss and rhythmic influences on performance. The comparison of performance rhythms with physiological rhythms, e.g., body temperature, generated under the same conditions of sleep deprivation, has become an important means of testing for an endogenous source of the rhythmicity in the data and for clarifying the nature of the proposed oscillator system. Should the data sets be correlated before or after their separation into monotonic and rhythmic parts? Correlating the raw data without separating them into their components can yield negative results, while, in reality, some of the major underlying rhythms may be highly related. The example used in this chapter showed strong cross correlations of the circadian components of temperature and two performance tasks. Sleep deprivation is thus seen to interact with performance rhythms. This interaction is only revealed after the data are analyzed and broken into their component parts. This procedure leads to the conclusion that certain performance rhythms and temperature may share the same generating oscillators.

Body Temperature

Meta-analysis of the relationship between total sleep deprivation and performance.

Studies consistently show that total sleep deprivation (TSD) and measures of performance are negatively correlated. However, an accurate quantitative summary of the relationship between these variables has not yet been reported. After collection of the data from 27 relevant studies, meta-analytic techniques were used to test several hypotheses. The correlations were found to be highest for TSD of greater than or equal to 45 h, speed rather than accuracy measures of performance, and work-paced rather than self-paced tasks. These findings are consistent with the "lapse hypothesis" that posits microsleeps during long hours of sleep deprivation.

Chronobiology Phenomena

Monotonic and rhythmic influences: a challenge for sleep deprivation research.

There are both monotonic and rhythmic factors in the patterns of change seen in physiological, psychological, and performance variables during sleep deprivation. These monotonic and rhythmic factors can be orthogonal, or they may interact with each other, with various task variables, or both. The importance of separating the rhythmic from the monotonic factors and of elucidating their interactions is discussed. Experimental methods and types of analysis appropriate to evaluating these factors are examined, with special emphasis on the complex demodulation time series analysis applied to group or individual subject data. The discussion is accompanied by data illustrations. It is suggested that sleep deprivation research should be designed so as to generate physiological and behavioral data that include information on both monotonic and rhythmic factors, the nature and extent of their interaction, and how they interrelate with systematically manipulated independent variables.

Arousal

Subjective sleepiness ratings: the effects of sleep deprivation, circadian rhythmicity and cognitive performance.

Computerized self-report sleepiness scales were administered before and after cognitive testing in a 72-hour sleep deprivation study. The cognitive test battery was administered every 2 hours and took approximately 1-1.25 hours. Two computerized measures of subjective sleepiness were used, one a visual analog scale, the other a Hebrew version of the Stanford sleepiness scale. The results indicated that both accumulated sleep loss, circadian and ultradian (2 cycles/day) factors were significant in determining subjective estimates of sleepiness. The extent of the differences between subjective sleepiness ratings before cognitive testing and after testing was dependent upon the phase of the circadian cycle. These differences were greatest at approximately 0200-0600 hours and least around 1000 hours. A second low point occurred at 1800-2000 hours. Analysis by complex demodulation of the individual subjects' sleepiness rating curves indicated that the amount of variance accounted for by the circadian component increased significantly after cognitive testing.

Adult

The impact of cognitive interference on performance during prolonged sleep loss.

A study was conducted on the effects of off-task cognitions on performance during sleep deprivation. Subjects answered the Thought Occurrence Questionnaire, assessing their proneness to engage in off-task cognitions, and were deprived of sleep for 72 hours, during which they performed a variety of tasks including visual discrimination and three versions of a logical reasoning task in which cognitive load was varied systematically. In addition, every day subjects answered the Cognitive Interference Questionnaire, which taps off-task cognitions during the experiment. Results indicated that subjects who habitually engage in off-task cognitions performed worse during 72 hours of sleep loss than subjects who do not engage in such distracting activities. In addition, it was found that the engagement in off-task cognitions increased during the 72 hours of sleep loss and such an engagement was related to deficits in performance accuracy. The mechanisms of off-task cognitions and sleep loss underlying these effects are discussed.

Adult

The effects of 72 hours of sleep loss on psychological variables.

A study was conducted on the effects of 72 hours of sleep loss and modified continuous operations on performance and psychological variables. This paper presents the results of self-report data of 12 subjects for the following psychological variables: sleepiness, affect, motivation, cognitive difficulties, and waking dreams. The relationship between the self-report measures and performance in a visual search and memory task is also examined. Most of the psychological variables are significantly affected by the number of days of sleep deprivation, all are significantly affected by hour of day; but only sleepiness, affect and motivation are also significantly affected by the interaction between these variables. The peak hours for self-reported psychological complaints are generally between 0400 and 0800, while the lowest number of complaints are usually reported in the afternoon/early evening, between 1600 and 2000. In addition, the results showed that (a) the amplitude of the circadian component of the psychological data increased over the period of sleep loss, and (b) psychological data were more highly correlated with a measure of general performance than with accuracy. The mechanisms of sleep deprivation underlying its effects on psychological and performance measures are discussed.

Adult

Perceptual distortions and hallucinations reported during the course of sleep deprivation.

Subjects worked 30 to 45 min. of each hour for either 48 (n = 2) or 72 hr. (n = 8) without sleep. The frequency of reported visual task-related perceptual distortions and hallucinations showed both a linear increasing component and a strong circadian component. Perceptual distortions were most frequent in the late night-early morning hours (0400) and least frequent in the late afternoon-early evening hours (1600-2000).

Adolescent

Lexical decision and visual hemifield: an examination of the RT-accuracy relationship.

Visual hemifield, stimulus duration and angle of eccentricity were manipulated using a lexical decision paradigm (discrimination of words from non-words). Lexical decision was measured by several dependent variables: reaction time, (RT); accuracy, d'; and beta. The results support the generalization of RVF superiority in a lexical decision task for parafoveal stimulation for three dependent variables, RT, accuracy and d'. No significant effect of any stimulus manipulation was found for beta. When RT is plotted as a function of accuracy, the data separate into two groups (one for words, one for non-words) each best described by a linear equation with negative slope. The implication of this analysis is discussed, and the hypothesis offered that the same basic process discriminates words from non-words in a lexical decision task, regardless of visual field, parafoveal angle of eccentricity or stimulus duration. Visual field is processed no differently from the other stimulus manipulations.

Adult

Lexical decision, parafoveal eccentricity and visual hemifield.

The effect of the eccentricity of parafoveal stimulation on a lexical decision task was studied using stimuli presented to the two visual hemifield. Five-letter word and nonword stimuli were presented to three parafoveal locations ranging over 1 degree angle of eccentricity. Subjects responded manually. The results of the analyses indicated that the average RT to words was approximately 48 msec. shorter than to nonwords. The average RT to a stimulus presented to the RVF was approximately 11 msec. shorter than to a stimulus presented to the LVF. As parafoveal location became more eccentric, RT to all stimuli increased by approximately 37 msec. per degree of eccentricity. A very significant interaction was found between the visual hemifield stimulated and the direction of response to the type of stimulus presented (word/nonword).

Dominance, Cerebral

Individual use of judgmental dimensions and hemispheric specificity.

The present study investigated the relationship of hemispheric functional specificity to a subject's use of judgmental dimensions when discriminating temporal and spatial visual stimuli using a multidimensional scaling (MDS) paired-comparison paradigm. The major purposes of the study were: To identify the judgmental dimensions used in discriminating unidimensional (temporal or spatial) and multidimensional (combinations of temporal and spatial parameters) stimuli presented to the two visual hemifields; to study the relationship of the use of judgmental dimensions to the visual hemifields; to investigate whether the use of judgmental dimensions in discriminating unidimensional stimuli can be used to predict their use in discriminating multidimensional stimuli. Subjects used two dimensions in discriminating the spatial and temporal unidimensional stimuli: A dimension whose scaling paralleled the physically interval-scaled stimuli; a dimension, in which the extreme values were located on one end of the scale, while the mid-values are located at the other end of the scale. There is significantly greater use of the spatial dimension when spatial stimuli are presented to the left visual field (LVF) then when presented to the right visual field (RVF). Conversely, there is significantly greater use of the temporal dimension when temporal stimuli are presented to the RVF then when they are presented to the LVF. Three perceptual dimensions were used to judge multidimensional stimuli: Spatial-to-temporal; stimulus quality; apparent movement. Two groups of subjects were identified who differed in their relative use of the temporally and spatially scaled unidimensional stimuli presented to the RVF. These two groups differed with respect to their relative use of a spatial-to-temporal dimension when multidimensional stimuli were presented to the RVF.

Cues

Auditory brainstem evoked potential latency-intensity functions: a corrective algorithm.

The dynamic changes in the latency of the components of the auditory brainstem evoked potentials (ABEP) were analyzed and correlated with the psychophysical magnitude estimates of the stimuli evoking the potentials. This study included the reanalysis of the results originally reported by Pratt and Sohmer (1977, Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurol., 43, 802-812), this time with correction for asymptote of the latency-intensity functions. The results of reanalyzing latency-intensity power functions have yielded exponents that were very similar across components, closer to the exponent of magnitude estimates and accounting for a higher amount of variance for all of the ABEP components. This procedure may also prove useful for clinical evaluation of auditory function.

Algorithms

Electrocutaneous input-output functions: magnitude estimation and reaction time.

An experiment was conducted on the effect of electrocutaneous stimuli on the generation of two types of input-output functions, and their relationship to each other. The data indicate that increasing electrocutaneous stimulus intensity results in a monotonic growth of magnitude estimation and a negatively decelerating decrease in reaction time. Reaction time approaches an asymptote at high intensities. The dynamic range of reaction time (RT), i.e., the RT which decreases as a function of increases in intensity was subtracted from the asymptotic reaction time (RTmin) for the subsequent analyses. The two-parameter power function provides a better fit for magnitude estimation as well as for RT--RTmin as a function of stimulus intensity than either a two-parameter linear or log-linear equation. When RT--RTmin is plotted as a function of magnitude estimation on a log-log scale, the data are within 4% of the predicted linear equation with a slope of --1, with no significant nonlinear components. If these data are plotted on a linear-linear scale, the linear coefficient is 31% steeper than --1, and a significant nonlinear component is present.

Electric Stimulation

Effects of light-deprivation on visual discrimination in adult rats.

The effects of light-deprication on light flux discrimination by adult rats were tested by a conditioned lick-suppression technique. Total binocular light-deprication for a period of 37-38 days leads to decreased discrimination of the CS (a reduction of 0.64 log units in illumination) by adult rats. The argument is made that these data indicate sensory deficit in the adult animals resulting from binocular light-deprivation.

Animals

Light-deprivation and light-adaptation: a preliminary study.

Preliminary data are presented on the effect of light-deprivation on the b-wave evoked in an eye exposed to and during recovery from a 500 msec duration conditioning pulse. The data indicate that the greatest differences between the amplitude of the b-wave evoked in the normal and light-deprived eyes are found for the dark-adapted retina. If the normal and light-deprived eyes are exposed to a conditioning pulse, the differences in b-wave amplitude between them are reduced. There is an increase in the difference between the b-waves evoked in the normal and light-deprived eyes as a function of time after the offset of a conditioning pulse. Latency of the b-wave evoked in the light-deprived eyes is not longer than b-wave latency in the normal eyes.

Adaptation, Ocular