In a study called “ How does one night of sleep deprivation affect the internal clock?” conducted by  Casini, Laurence, et al, researchers experimented to explore the effects of sleep deprivation on the human’s internal clock. The study involved two experiments, one designed to measure the temporal production under sleep deprivation and the other to measure speech perception under sleep deprivation. 

Experiment One: Temporal production under sleep deprivation

Participants in this experiment were placed into two separate groups: one with a good night of sleep and the other with a sleep-deprived night. The participants would perform a temporal production task followed by a reaction time task. The use of click trains was included as a comparison of the sleep deprivation impact as it modifies the brain activation level. An electroencephalogram (EEG) records the electrical activity of the brain through the electrode applied to the scalp. The results noted that the participants with a sleep-deprived night produced shorter duration indication of an acceleration of the pacemaker rate. Compared to the participants with a rested night of sleep, concludes that lack of sleep through the speed rate of the pacemaker impacts the internal clock operation.

“Participants’ task was to maintain a keypress with the right thumb for 1100 ms. Trial onset was initiated by participants once a red circle appeared on the screen. Participants had to maintain the keypress as long as necessary to time the required duration.”(Casini, et al.)

participants’ task was to maintain a keypress with the right thumb for 1100 ms. Trial onset was initiated by participants once a red circle appeared on the screen. Participants had to maintain the key press as long as necessary to time the required duration.

Experiment Two: Speech perception after one sleep-deprived night

Participants in this experiment were also placed into two separate groups: one with a good night of sleep and the other with a sleep-deprived night. This experiment was controlled by a computer-run scope which would send auditory stimuli through the participants’ headphones and they were required to recognize certain words and respond through the motion of their hands. However, unlike the previous experiment, participants on sleep-deprived nights had a better performance in recognizing vowel durations compared to the rested group. The results suggest that despite the huge effect of sleep deprivation on the internal clock, certain cognitive functions were temporarily compensating.