Heart rate variability for evaluating vigilant attention in partial chronic sleep restriction

Examine the use of spectral heart rate variability (HRV) metrics in measuring sleepiness under chronic partial sleep restriction, and identify underlying relationships between HRV, Karolinska Sleepiness Scale ratings (KSS), and performance on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT).

Controlled laboratory study.

Experimental laboratory of the Brain Work Research Centre of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland.

Twenty-three healthy young males (mean age ± SD = 23.77 ± 2.29).

A sleep restriction group (N = 15) was subjected to chronic partial sleep restriction with 4 h sleep for 5 nights. A control group (N = 8) had 8 h sleep on all nights.

Based on a search over all HRV frequency bands in the range [0.00, 0.40] Hz, the band [0.01, 0.08] Hz showed the highest correlation for HRV-PVT (0.60, 95% confidence interval [0.49, 0.69]) and HRV-KSS (0.33, 95% confidence interval [0.16, 0.46]) for the sleep restriction group; no correlation was found for the control group. We studied the fraction of variance in PVT explained by HRV and a 3-component alertness model, containing circadian and homeostatic processes coupled with sleep inertia, respectively. HRV alone explained 33% of PVT variance.

The findings suggest that HRV spectral power reflects vigilant attention in subjects exposed to partial chronic sleep restriction.

Henelius A, Sallinen M, Huotilainen M, Müller K, Virkkala J, Puolamäki K. Heart rate variability for evaluating vigilant attention in partial chronic sleep restriction.