Abstract Introduction During adolescence, biological development produces a pronounced shift toward later bedtimes and rise times. This chronotype change often conflicts with early school or work schedules, leading to reduced sleep duration and poorer sleep quality. Insufficient or disrupted sleep is known to heighten emotional reactivity and impair cognitive control, yet its role in risky decision making during adolescence remains unclear. The present study examined whether sleep quality, indexed through macro- and microstructural sleep features, relates to risk-taking behavior in adolescents and young adults. Methods Forty-two participants (ages 15–34 years; M=18.92, SD=3.09; screened to ensure normal color vision) completed one night of sleep monitoring using the Sleep Profiler, which provides automated measures of sleep architecture and EEG-derived microarchitecture (e.g., sigma power). Participants then completed the Balloon Emotional Learning Task (BELT) the following morning as well as self-report questionnaires; BELT is a computerized paradigm assessing risk taking and adaptive learning. Results Participants exhibited total sleep times below recommended levels (Mean TST=6.01, SD=1.11). Using age-controlled, bootstrapped partial correlations (1,000 samples), robust relationships emerged between N2/N3 sigma activity and task behavior. Higher NREM Sigma was associated with risk aversion, including fewer total adjusted pumps (r= −.39, p=.009), fewer balloon pops (r= −.32, p=.033), and fewer adjusted pumps in the variable-risk condition (r= −.38, p=.011). In contrast, REM sleep was associated with successful performance: greater REM duration and percentage were associated with more points earned (REMtime: r=.32, p=.032; REM%: r=.36, p=.015). Traditional macro-sleep measures (TST, sleep efficiency, WASO) were not significantly related to behavioral performance (r .25, ps .10), suggesting that sleep microarchitecture is more predictive of next-day risk-related behavior than overall sleep duration or continuity. Conclusion These findings suggest that distinct features of sleep microarchitecture relate to next-day decision making. Greater NREM sigma activity appears to buffer against risky choices, whereas REM sleep supports overall performance. Sleep quality may be a critical contributor to cognitive and behavioral functioning during adolescence and early adulthood. Support (if any) This work was supported by the Sakowich Center for Undergraduate Research Grant (SCURCA).
Vance et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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