Emotional regulation after sleep deprivation: The moderation role of sleep quality

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the emotional regulation after sleep deprivation as indicated by both slow wave/ fast wave ratio on Electroencephalography (EEG) and behavioral performance in an emotional 2-back task. Another aim was to investigate the moderation role of habitual sleep quality between sleep deprivation and emotional regulation. Specifically whether good sleep quality would buffer the compromised emotional regulation after sleep deprivation. Methods: A total of 47 college students aged between 18 to 24 were recruited and underwent a three-day protocol. On day one, participants were given the actigraph and completed Chinese Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (CPSQI). They had a normal sleep of no less than 7 hours at home. On day two, they were informed of the group assignment. Control group stayed home and had a normal sleep as on day one. However, the sleep deprivation (SD) group came back to the lab and underwent monitored sleep deprivation. On day three, all participants returned to the lab to complete the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) and Psychomotor Vigilance Test PVT and finished resting state EEG recording as well as emotional 2-back task in the end. Results: We found that emotional regulation was compromised after sleep deprivation as indicated by increased frontal and parietal theta/beta ratio, but there was no difference in emotional 2-back task between groups. Sleep quality negatively affect one’s emotional regulation, and the PSQI component of “sleep latency” in particular was found to moderate the effect of sleep deprivation on emotional regulation as shown by both formal and parietal theta/beta ratio. Conclusion: This study was the first to investigate slow wave/ fast wave ratio after sleep deprivation and the role of PSQI components in emotional regulation. The result carried implications for identifying high risk population for emotional dysregulation after sleep deprivation. All rights reserved.