Alterations in mood, cognitive behaviour and functional connectivity between brain regions in healthy adult males with acute total sleep deprivation.

Objectives

Although acute total sleep deprivation (TSD) is known to harm health and daily activities, how it specifically alters the link between distinct brain regions and emotional‑cognitive behaviors remains poorly understood. This study therefore investigated mood changes, cognitive performance, and functional connectivity in healthy adult males after 36 h of TSD.

Methods

Sixty healthy adult males participated in a within‑subject protocol. Assessments were performed before and after 36 h of TSD using multiple measures: mood rating scales, behavioral tests of sustained attention and alertness, and resting‑state fMRI to evaluate functional connectivity across brain regions.

Results

After 36 h of TSD, emotional responses were markedly impaired, and sustained attention/alertness declined significantly. Functional connectivity between the cerebellum and visual, auditory, and motor areas generally increased, reflecting a pattern of large-scale brain network reorganization induced by prolonged wakefulness.

Conclusion

Acute total sleep deprivation produces complex impairments in mood expression, sustained vigilance and large-scale intrinsic brain network coordination among healthy young males. The observed hyperconnectivity between the cerebellum and visual network may reflect multiple non-exclusive neural processes, with the underlying mechanism remaining to be clarified. These findings expand our understanding of brain functional reorganization induced by sleep deprivation and provide empirical evidence for subsequent investigations on sleep deprivation-related neural and behavioral disturbances.