Altered dynamic brain activity and its association with memory decline after night shift‐related sleep deprivation in nurses

Aims and objectives To investigate, for the first time, aberrant time‐varying local brain activity in nurses following night shift–related sleep deprivation (SD) and its association with memory decline. Background Prior studies have elucidated alterations in static local brain activity resulting from SD in the occupations outside medical profession. Design A longitudinal study followed the STROBE recommendations. Methods Twenty female nurses underwent resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging and memory function assessment (by Complex Figure Test (CFT) and the California Verbal Learning Test, Second Edition (CVLT‐II)) twice, once in a rested wakefulness (RW) state and another after SD. By combining the sliding‐window approach and amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation (ALFF) analysis, the dynamic ALFF (dALFF) variability was calculated to reflect the characteristics of dynamic local brain activity. Results Poor performance on the CFT and CVLT‐II was observed in nurses with night shift–related SD. Reduced dALFF variability was found in a set of cognition‐related brain regions (including the medial/middle/superior frontal gyrus, anterior/posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, angular gyrus, orbitofrontal and subgenual areas, and posterior cerebellum lobe), while increased dALFF variability was observed in the somatosensory‐related, visual and auditory regions. SD‐related dALFF variability alterations correlated with changes in subjects' performance on the CFT and CVLT‐II. Conclusions Night shift–related SD disturbed dynamic brain activity in high cognitive regions and induced compensatory reactions in primary perceptual cortex. Identifying dALFF variability abnormalities may broaden our understanding of neural substrates underlying SD‐related cognitive alterations, especially memory dysfunction. Relevance to clinical practice Night shift–related SD is as an important occupational hazard affecting brain function in nurses. The effective countermeasure addressing the adverse outcomes of SD should be advocated for nurses. Patient or public contribution Patients or public were not involved in the design and implementation of the study or the analysis and interpretation of the data.