Abstract

Background and Purpose: Sleep deprivation is often shown to lead to significantly slower reaction time performance [1]. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects that sleep duration has on reaction time.

Method: The review included articles from peer-reviewed journals with sufficient data related to the purpose and focus of the study. Inclusion criteria include randomized control trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis published since 2006. Key words included: “sleep deprivation,” “sleep deficit,” “reaction time,” “performance.”

Results: Twenty relevant studies were identified; various experimental protocols were employed, including both acute and chronic effects of sleep deprivation on physical performance. All studies were published 2007 through 2017, providing a robust overview of experimentation over the last 10 years.

Discussion and conclusion: Among studies analyzed in this mini-review, the consensus reached regarding the effects of sleep deprivation on reaction time was relatively positive. Most studies followed similar data collection strategies, implementing questionnaires and utilizing standardized reaction time testing procedures. The majority of these studies demonstrated significant increases in reaction time in concert with decreased sleep duration. More research is necessary to identify optimal sleep duration for promoting enhanced reaction time performance.