| dc.description.abstract | Sleep deprivation affects a large population of students on college campuses and is
associated with heightened sympathetic nervous system arousal. The aim of this study is to
identify any differences that may exist between various physiological responses to acute stress
based on individual levels of sleep deprivation. Collectively, it was hypothesized that sleepdeprived individuals would experience a greater increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and skin
conductance when exposed to an acute stressful stimulus than those who were non-sleepdeprived. Stress response was assessed by changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and skin
conductance in response to an acoustic stimulus. Individuals were asked to listen to a 3-minute
sound recording of soothing music, during which physiological measurements were taken. The
results of this study indicated no statistically significant differences in physiological responses
between those who were sleep-deprived and non-sleep-deprived, with the exception of
differences in mean arterial pressure. The difference in mean arterial pressure was significant
only with respect to those who indicated having obtained “significantly less” and “significantly
more” sleep (sleep-deprived MAP: �=4.33 vs. non-sleep-deprived MAP: �=−15.84±7.30) the
night before the study, compared to a typical night’s sleep. We were unable to find support for
our hypothesis based on these results. The lack of significant findings is likely reflective of the
paucity of severely sleep-deprived participants; thus, our findings may be better understood in
the context of mild to moderate sleep deprivation. We concluded that further research needs to be
conducted to properly identify scientific definitions for sleep deprivation and quality of sleep. | en_US |
