A systematic review of sleep deprivation and neurobehavioral function in young adults

To examine the effect of sleep deprivation (total and partial) on neurobehavioral function compared to a healthy sleep opportunity (7‐9 h) in young adults 18–30 years. More than one-third of young adults are sleep deprived, which negatively affects a range of neurobehavioral functions, including psychomotor vigilance performance (cognitive), affect, and daytime sleepiness. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on sleep deprivation and neurobehavioral function. Multiple electronic databases (Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials [CENTRAL], PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science) were searched for relevant RCTs published in English from the establishment of each database to December 31, 2020. Nineteen RCTs were selected (N = 766, mean age = 23.7 ± 3.1 years; 44.8% female). Seven were between-person (5 were parallel-group designs and 2 had multiple arms), and 12 were within-person designs (9 were cross over and 3 used a Latin square approach). Total sleep deprivation had the strongest detrimental effect on psychomotor vigilance performance, with the largest effects on vigilance tasks in young adults in the included studies. Acute sleep deprivation degrades multiple dimensions of neurobehavioral function including psychomotor vigilance performance, affect, and daytime sleepiness in young adults. The effect of chronic sleep deprivation on the developing brain and associated neurobehavioral functions in young adults remains unclear. •Total and partial sleep deprivation lead to significant decrements in neurobehavioral function in young adults.•Adaptation to sleep loss can occur when it accumulates over time.•The focus of the current literature is on short term sleep loss limiting the ability to determine chronic partial sleep deprivation.•The prefrontal cortex continues to develop until the late 20's, thus the effects of sleep loss over time in the developing brain remain unclear.