Rodent Psychomotor Vigilance Task Performance Following Chronic Sleep Restriction and Systemic Caffeine Administration

Background: Chronic sleep restriction and performance on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) have been well documented in humans. Results demonstrate significantly impaired PVT performance. An analogous task in rodents, the rat Psychomotor Vigilance Task (rPVT), cites similar results. However, few studies have examined the effect of caffeine to ameliorate the effects of sleep restriction on rPVT performance as demonstrated in human PVT literature. Materials and Methods: After baseline, animals experienced three conditions for 1 week each: 6 hours/day sleep deprivation, 10 mg/kg intraperitoneal (i.p.) caffeine, and 6 hours/day sleep deprivation followed by 10 mg/kg i.p. caffeine. Performance on the rPVT was measured daily at 15:00. Results: Significant results were found for all rPVT metrics. Six hours per day sleep deprivation significantly impaired rPVT performance, but 10 mg/kg caffeine did not counteract the sleep deprivation. Conclusion: Caffeine administration did not counteract the effects of sleep deprivation on rPVT performance. Future research should explore dose–response effects of stimulants on rPVT performance following chronic sleep restriction.