Sleep DeprivationNCT03767426
The Effect of Sleep Deprivation and Recovery Sleep on Emotional Memory and Affective Reactivity
A study testing Sleep Deprivation and Daytime nap in people with Sleep Deprivation and Sleep, run by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
To further understand the impact of acute sleep deprivation and recovery sleep on the processing of emotional information the investigators will address and attempt to answer three questions, (i) how both undisturbed sleep and sleep deprivation affect the processing and retrieval of emotional information, (ii) what… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 35 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Sleep Deprivation, Sleep
- What is being tested?
- Sleep Deprivation and Daytime nap
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 100 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Mar 2019to 31 Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 35 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- willing and able to follow the protocol
- willing and able to meet inclusion criteria for fMRI scanning
- willing to refrain from alcohol and recreational drugs for the duration of the protocol
- normal or corrected to normal vision is required
Who cannot join
- self-reported sleep disturbances
- left-handedness or ambidexterity
- a history of mental illness or neurological disorder
- the use of any drugs that could affect either sleep or cognitive functioning (e.g., sleeping pills or antidepressants)
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
To further understand the impact of acute sleep deprivation and recovery sleep on the processing of emotional information the investigators will address and attempt to answer three questions, (i) how both undisturbed sleep and sleep deprivation affect the processing and retrieval of emotional information, (ii) what neural and psychophysiological mechanisms are associated with these behavioral effects, and (iii) to explore the ability of recovery sleep to reverse the effects of sleep deprivation. Together, these studies will provide a greater breadth and depth of knowledge concerning sleep's role in emotion processing and regulation. Given the growing societal tendency to view sleep as unproductive-foregoing it to lengthen work days and increase social opportunities- such knowledge would be of practical importance for understanding the role of sleep in healthy emotional functioning, particular for individuals experiencing periods of increased stress and emotional distress (e.g., new parents, hospital staff, or combat troops).
Read the detailed description
Goal 1: How does sleep deprivation impact emotion perception and memory processing? The investigators are interested in how an acute loss of sleep impairs our ability to properly perceive, consolidate, and retrieve emotional information. There has been research on the effect of sleep deprivation on broad areas of cognition, such as attention, working memory, and reasoning ability, but the impact of sleep loss on emotional processing and regulation remains largely unexplored. The investigators aim to characterize how sleep deprivation compared to undisturbed sleep affects the ability to accurately perceive emotion, how it alters the intensity with which emotions are perceived, and the effect that these changes have on the subsequent consolidation and memory retrieval for emotional compared to neutral information.
Goal 2: How are these changes reflected in the neural signal and with psychophysiological measures? The investigators will utilize functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and measures of autonomic reactivity (heart rate and skin conductance) to characterize the neural and psychophysiological mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes following sleep deprivation compared to a normal night of sleep. This will allow us to pinpoint the brain regions involved in changes following sleep deprivation, and associate these changes with effects on downstream physiological responses.
Goal 3: Can a nap after sleep deprivation restore normal processing of emotional memory and rescue the neural and autonomic markers of sleep deprivation? The investigators are interested in determining if a brief period of recovery sleep is enough to combat the behavioral, neural, and autonomic effects of acute sleep loss, thus a portion of the sleep-deprived participants will be given a 2-hour nap opportunity to quantify its restorative effects. Such information would form the foundation for future research extending and translating these findings into effective sleep-based interventions for healthy and clinical populations alike.
- Conditions
- Sleep Deprivation, Sleep
- Being tested
- Sleep Deprivation, Daytime nap
- Keywords
- Emotion, Memory, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation
- Medical subject headings
- Sleep Deprivation
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Sleep DeprivationBehavioural
Subjects are sleep deprived for an entire night
Daytime napBehavioural
After a night of sleep deprivation, participants will be given a 2 hour nap opportunity
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight sleep | No intervention | Subjects are permitted a night of polysomnograph-recorded sleep before participating in training and testing sessions the next day |
| Sleep deprivation | Active comparator | Subjects sleep deprived before participating in training and testing sessions the next day Receives: Behavioral: Sleep Deprivation |
| Daytime Nap | Experimental | Subjects are trained and then retested after a daytime nap Receives: Behavioral: Sleep Deprivation; Behavioral: Daytime nap |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Morphed Face Accuracy and Intensity
Participants are asked to identify and rate emotional intensity of ambiguous emotional faces (happy, sad, angry) that have been morphed with neutral faces. Scores for each emotional domain will be calculated as (i) accuracy score (number of faces correctly identified over total faces seen), and (ii) average emotional intensity rating. Task will be completed at baseline, post-sleep/sleep deprivation, and post-nap/no nap, and within-subject comparisons will determine how interventions impact emotional perception.
Measured: 1-24 hours
Emotional Memory Tradeoff Memory Score
Following sleep or sleep deprivation, participants will complete emotional memory tradeoff recognition task at two time points, separated by a nap or wakefulness. Corrected hit rate will be calculated for negative and neutral scene components as the percentage of correctly identified "old" objects/backgrounds minus percentage of false alarms ("new" pictures marked as "old")
Measured: 12-24 hours
Psychomotor vigilance task lapse rate
The absolute number of trials in a 5-min test period on which the participant fails to responds with 500ms is calculated as the lapse rate.
Measured: 1-24 hours
Secondary outcomes (3)
fMRI measured neural reactivity (blood oxygen-level dependent signal)
Following sleep or sleep deprivation, regions of interest include amygdala reactivity and connectivity between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in response to negative and neutral stimuli.
Measured: 12-24 hours
Heart Rate Reactivity (Beats per minute)
The change in heart rate beats per minute in response to negative and neutral stimuli after sleep or sleep deprivation.
Measured: 12-24 hours
Skin Conductance Reactivity (micro Siemens)
The change in electrodermal activity in response to negative and neutral stimuli after sleep or sleep deprivation.
Measured: 12-24 hours
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted6 Dec 2018
- Study start1 Mar 2019
- Primary completion31 Dec 2025
- Study completion31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Sleep DeprivationStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Independent group comparison
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Boston College
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Robert Stickgold, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Investigators
- Tony Cunningham, PhD, Principal investigator, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03767426
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- TC-1
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 5 Dec 2018
- Last updated
- 6 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 6 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Effect of Sleep Deprivation and Recovery Sleep on Emotional Memory and Affective Reactivity
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03767426
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- TC-1
- Conditions
- Sleep Deprivation, Sleep
- Keywords
- Emotion, Memory, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Boston College
- Study start
- 1 Mar 2019 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Dec 2025 (actual)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 6 Dec 2018 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
To further understand the impact of acute sleep deprivation and recovery sleep on the processing of emotional information the investigators will address and attempt to answer three questions, (i) how both undisturbed sleep and sleep deprivation affect the processing and retrieval of emotional information, (ii) what neural and psychophysiological mechanisms are associated with these behavioral effects, and (iii) to explore the ability of recovery sleep to reverse the effects of sleep deprivation. Together, these studies will provide a greater breadth and depth of knowledge concerning sleep's role in emotion processing and regulation. Given the growing societal tendency to view sleep as unproductive-foregoing it to lengthen work days and increase social opportunities- such knowledge would be of practical importance for understanding the role of sleep in healthy emotional functioning, particular for individuals experiencing periods of increased stress and emotional distress (e.g., new parents, hospital staff, or combat troops).
Detailed description
Goal 1: How does sleep deprivation impact emotion perception and memory processing? The investigators are interested in how an acute loss of sleep impairs our ability to properly perceive, consolidate, and retrieve emotional information. There has been research on the effect of sleep deprivation on broad areas of cognition, such as attention, working memory, and reasoning ability, but the impact of sleep loss on emotional processing and regulation remains largely unexplored. The investigators aim to characterize how sleep deprivation compared to undisturbed sleep affects the ability to accurately perceive emotion, how it alters the intensity with which emotions are perceived, and the effect that these changes have on the subsequent consolidation and memory retrieval for emotional compared to neutral information.
Goal 2: How are these changes reflected in the neural signal and with psychophysiological measures? The investigators will utilize functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and measures of autonomic reactivity (heart rate and skin conductance) to characterize the neural and psychophysiological mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes following sleep deprivation compared to a normal night of sleep. This will allow us to pinpoint the brain regions involved in changes following sleep deprivation, and associate these changes with effects on downstream physiological responses.
Goal 3: Can a nap after sleep deprivation restore normal processing of emotional memory and rescue the neural and autonomic markers of sleep deprivation? The investigators are interested in determining if a brief period of recovery sleep is enough to combat the behavioral, neural, and autonomic effects of acute sleep loss, thus a portion of the sleep-deprived participants will be given a 2-hour nap opportunity to quantify its restorative effects. Such information would form the foundation for future research extending and translating these findings into effective sleep-based interventions for healthy and clinical populations alike.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 3
- Model description
- Independent group comparison
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight sleep | No intervention | –Subjects are permitted a night of polysomnograph-recorded sleep before participating in training and testing sessions the next day |
| Sleep deprivation | Active comparator | Behavioral: Sleep DeprivationSubjects sleep deprived before participating in training and testing sessions the next day |
| Daytime Nap | Experimental | Behavioral: Sleep Deprivation, Behavioral: Daytime napSubjects are trained and then retested after a daytime nap |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 35 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- willing and able to follow the protocol
- willing and able to meet inclusion criteria for fMRI scanning
- willing to refrain from alcohol and recreational drugs for the duration of the protocol
- normal or corrected to normal vision is required
Key exclusion criteria (4 listed)
- self-reported sleep disturbances
- left-handedness or ambidexterity
- a history of mental illness or neurological disorder
- the use of any drugs that could affect either sleep or cognitive functioning (e.g., sleeping pills or antidepressants)
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep DeprivationSubjects are sleep deprived for an entire night | Behavioural | Daytime Nap, Sleep deprivation |
| Daytime napAfter a night of sleep deprivation, participants will be given a 2 hour nap opportunity | Behavioural | Daytime Nap |
Primary outcome
Morphed Face Accuracy and Intensity
Time frame: 1-24 hours
Participants are asked to identify and rate emotional intensity of ambiguous emotional faces (happy, sad, angry) that have been morphed with neutral faces. Scores for each emotional domain will be calculated as (i) accuracy score (number of faces correctly identified over total faces seen), and (ii) average emotional intensity rating. Task will be completed at baseline, post-sleep/sleep deprivation, and post-nap/no nap, and within-subject comparisons will determine how interventions impact emotional perception.
Emotional Memory Tradeoff Memory Score
Time frame: 12-24 hours
Following sleep or sleep deprivation, participants will complete emotional memory tradeoff recognition task at two time points, separated by a nap or wakefulness. Corrected hit rate will be calculated for negative and neutral scene components as the percentage of correctly identified "old" objects/backgrounds minus percentage of false alarms ("new" pictures marked as "old")
Psychomotor vigilance task lapse rate
Time frame: 1-24 hours
The absolute number of trials in a 5-min test period on which the participant fails to responds with 500ms is calculated as the lapse rate.
3 secondary outcomes
fMRI measured neural reactivity (blood oxygen-level dependent signal)
Time frame: 12-24 hours
Heart Rate Reactivity (Beats per minute)
Time frame: 12-24 hours
Skin Conductance Reactivity (micro Siemens)
Time frame: 12-24 hours
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 6 Oct 2026.
Related trials for Sleep Deprivation
Recruiting
Investigation of the Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Itch and Pain Sensitivity
Histamine, Cowhage
Recruiting
Neurobehavioral Changes Following Spaceflight Stressors
Stressor, Individual, Alcohol Impairment
Recruiting
The Function of Biphasic Sleep in Infants
Sleep Deprivation
Not yet recruiting
Study on the Mechanism of Central Obesity Induced by Sleep Restriction and the Therapeutic Effect of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid: a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial (COSPA Study)
Sleep Deprivation
Recruiting
Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Intervention in ICU
ICU Hospitalization, Circadian Rhythm
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Tony Cunningham, PhD principal investigator
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Sleep Deprivation and Daytime nap in people with Sleep Deprivation and Sleep, run by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 6 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Morphed Face Accuracy and Intensity (time frame: 1-24 hours). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 6 Oct 2026.