Decreased P2 Waveform Reflects Impaired Brain Executive Function Induced by 12 h of Low Homeostatic Sleep Pressure: Evidence From an Event-Related Potential Study

Homeostatic sleep pressure can cause cognitive impairment, in which executive function is the most affected. Previous studies have mainly focused on high homeostatic sleep pressure (long-term sleep deprivation); thus, there is still little related neuro-psycho-physiological evidence based on low homeostatic sleep pressure (12 hours of continuous wakefulness) that affects executive function. This study aimed to investigate the impact of lower homeostatic sleep pressure on executive function. Our study included 14 healthy young male participants tested using Go/NoGo task in normal resting wakefulness (10:00 am) and after low homeostatic sleep pressure (10:00 pm). Behavioral data (response time and accuracy) were collected and EEG data were recorded simultaneously, using repeated measures analysis of variance for data analysis. Compared with resting wakefulness, the participants’ response time to Go stimulus was shortened after low homeostatic sleep pressure, and the correct response rate was reduced. Further, the peak amplitude of Go-P2 decreased significantly, and the peak latency did not change significantly. For NoGo stimulation, the peak amplitude of NoGo-P2 decreased significantly (p < 0.05) and the peak latency was significantly extended (p < 0.05). Thus, the P2 wave is likely related to the attention and visual processing, and reflects the early judgment of the perceptual process. Therefore, the peak amplitude of Go-P2 and NoGo-P2 decreased, while the peak latency of NoGo-P2 increased, indicating that executive function is impaired after low homeostatic sleep pressure. This study has shown that the P2 wave is a sensitive indicator that reflects the effects of low homeostatic sleep pressure on executive function, and it is also an important window to observe the effect of homeostatic sleep pressure and circadian rhythm on cognitive function.