Acute total sleep deprivation impairs visual, auditory, and audiovisual perception: A systematic review and...

Acute total sleep deprivation (TSD; 12-48 h) is common in 24/7 operations and threatens safety wherever rapid, accurate visual, auditory, and audiovisual processing is required. We quantitatively synthesized TSD effects on perceptual reaction time (RT) and accuracy (ACC) across sensory modalities.

Following PRISMA and a prospective registration, we identified 56 independent studies contributing 57 ACC and 91 RT records (unique participants: ACC n = 1664; RT n = 1864). Primary analyses used random-effects models with the Paule-Mandel estimator; prespecified moderators were sensory modality and TSD duration. Publication bias was examined with Egger's test and trim-and-fill.

TSD yielded a moderate RT impairment (Hedges' g = 0.901, 95% CI [0.671, 1.131]) and a small-to-moderate, non-significant ACC reduction (Hedges' g = -0.401, 95% CI [-0.848, 0.047]). By modality, ACC declined for visual (g = -0.493) and auditory tasks (g = -0.475) but not for audiovisual tasks; RT slowing was significant for visual (g = 0.777) and audiovisual tasks (g = 0.929) but not for auditory tasks. Duration analyses indicated the largest RT costs at 24-48 h awake, whereas meta-regressions with hours awake were not significant. Publication-bias signals were present for RT, yet bias-adjusted estimates remained significant.

Acute TSD reliably slows perceptual responding and modestly reduces accuracy, with the strongest and most consistent deficits in vision-dependent and audiovisual performance. These estimates inform scheduling, task/interface design, and fatigue-risk management in high-stakes environments.