Sleep Disruption Impairs Sustained Attention in Food-Restricted Rats Using a Food-Reinforced Rodent Psychomotor Vigilance Test.

Purpose: Sleep disruption (SD) impairs sustained attention, and impairment is quantified with the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) in humans. In rats, food restriction attenuates SD's effects on sustained attention, limiting translation of rodent vigilance tests. The goal of the current study was to determine if a rodent PVT (rPVT) requiring high baseline performance using food restriction and reinforcement is sensitive to the effects of SD.

Methods: Male Long-Evans rats (n=4) were trained on the rPVT using food reinforcement. Once baseline acquisition criteria were achieved, rats experienced acute SD using an automated sweep bar that moved across the home cage. Rats were tested in the rPVT the day following SD to assess performance-impairing effects.

Results: SD significantly increased lapses, and this effect was specific to shorter response-stimulus intervals. Decreased percent correct responses and increased slow reaction times were also found. These data suggest that many of the performance-impairing effects of SD are not attenuated by food restriction in this procedure.

Conclusion: The rPVT is sensitive to the performance impairing effects of SD in food restricted rats, a common methodology used to train and maintain performance on operant behavioral tests. Thus, food restriction does not appear to attenuate the effects of SD in all attention-related behavioral procedures.