The effect of acute sleep deprivation on temporal processing and frequency resolution in normal healthy adults

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed at evaluating the impact of 24 hours of sleep deprivation on temporal processing and frequency resolution in normal individuals with no history of neurological and psychological deficits. MATERIALS and METHODS: Sixteen individuals with normal hearing were included in the study. Temporal modulated transfer function, gap detection test, duration discrimination test, and pitch discrimination test were carried out in all of the individuals with a baseline evaluation, followed by an intra- test evaluation after 24 hours of sleep deprivation. RESULTS: The mean gap detection test values were elevated in sleep deprivation conditions as compared to the baseline condition. The temporal modulation transfer function scores were also increased in the sleep deprivation condition when compared to the baseline condition. Individuals performed poorly for the duration discrimination test and pitch discrimination test in the sleep-deprived condition. All tests showed statistical significance between the two conditions, with p<0.005. DISCUSSION: The reduced scores may be due to the effects of sleep deprivation on working memory, arousal, attention, concentration, and also reduced metabolism in the frontal lobe. CONCLUSION: This could indicate that sleep deprivation also affects central auditory processing, since temporal processing and frequency resolution form the neurobiological basis of central auditory processing. Hence, it can be put forth that an acute period of 24 hours of sleep deprivation was sufficient to significantly worsen temporal processing and frequency resolution abilities.