Functional connectivity of the cognitive emotion regulation network in partially sleep-deprived individuals using an...

Sleep deprivation (SD) may lead to emotional dysregulation, a problem that may be influenced by aging. However, the specific neural mechanisms underlying this issue remain unclear. To address this, we investigated changes in functional connectivity (FC) within the cognitive emotion regulation network (CERN) during a three-stage emotional arrows task, which included down-regulation, maintenance, and up-regulation conditions, following a night of partial SD (total sleep of 3 h). We compared the FC of the CERN in younger (ages 20-30) and older adults (ages 65-75) compared to their own baseline FC from a normal night of sleep (7-9 h). We also compared the FC of the CERN between the two age groups. Our findings revealed that during the down-regulation condition, both age groups exhibited increased FC among cortical components. However, the older group showed significant decreases in FC among the subcortical structures associated with emotion generation. In the maintenance and up-regulation conditions, younger adults who experienced sleep restriction primarily displayed enhanced synchronized activations among the cortical components of the CERN, while older SD adults exhibited decreased FC between cortical and subcortical components of the network. Additionally, when comparing the two age groups, younger adults showed widespread enhancements in FC within the CERN across all three emotional tasks, in contrast to their older counterparts. Our research suggests that partial SD alters the FC of the CERN in both young and old adults. However, younger individuals appear to be more susceptible to SD-induced reorganizations of FC within the network than older individuals.