Sleep deprived and sweating it out: the effects of total sleep deprivation on skin conductance reactivity to psychosocial stress.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: We examined how sleep deprivation alters physiological responses to psychosocial stress by evaluating changes in skin conductance.

DESIGN: Between-subjects design with one group allocated to 24 h of total sleep deprivation and the other to rested wakefulness.

SETTING: The study took place in a research laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 40 healthy young adults recruited from a university.

INTERVENTIONS: Sleep deprivation and feedback.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Electrodermal activity was monitored while participants completed a difficult perceptual task with false feedback. All participants showed increased skin conductance levels following stress. However, compared to well-rested participants, sleep deprived participants showed higher skin conductance reactivity with increasing stress levels.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that sleep deprivation augments allostatic responses to increasing psychosocial stress. Consequentially, we propose sleep loss as a risk factor that can influence the pathogenic effects of stress.