Sitting or standing: Effects on sustained attention of sleep deprived students

Keywords: Sleep deprivation, Psychomotor vigilance task, Dual task, Performance, Posture

Abstract

Introduction: During sleep deprivation, sustained attention is impacted by homeostatic pressure to sleep and the number of tasks. Objective: to compare the effects of 36h of sleep deprivation on psychomotor performance during a Single-Task Condition (STC) vs Dual-Task Condition (DTC) in university students. Method: During 36 hours of sleep deprivation, the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) was applied to 13 male university students, in the STC and DTC situations, sitting in a chair or standing on a force platform, every 3 hours, totaling 13 evaluations, from 08am on day 1 to 08pm on day 2. Results: There was an effect of time on the STC and DTC in all 13 evaluation moments, in all variables analyzed, except Mean RT and Slowest 10% RT, for a p-value of 0.05. No significant difference was found in the PVT variables in the comparison between the two conditions, despite a trend to significance, in the moments of homeostatic pressure to sleep in the task (05am and 02pm on day 2). Conclusion: Sleep deprivation negatively affected the psychomotor performance of participants in both conditions, demonstrating worsening of sustained attention, greater engagement of standing posture and revealing greater relaxation of sitting posture.

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Published
2025-06-24
How to Cite
1.
Brant VM, Silva A, Andrade HA, Narciso FV, Morais JKS, Lobo ILB, Guerreiro RC, Mello MT de. Sitting or standing: Effects on sustained attention of sleep deprived students. JPhysEduc [Internet]. 2025Jun.24 [cited 2025Sep.5];36(1):e-3634. Available from: https://periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/RevEducFis/article/view/76497