Sleep deprivation affects the performance of postural control and several other aspects related to attentional mechanisms that may alter sensory cue acquisition strategies. This study aimed to examine the possible effects of horizontal saccades and ocular fixation on a target in the performance of postural control in young adults with sleep deprivation. Twenty-six adults formed two groups, tested in two evaluations. In the first evaluation, participants slept normally on the night before. In the second evaluation, 13 participants were sleep deprived (SD) and 13 slept normally (control group [CG]) on the night before. In both evaluations, each participant stood upright as still as possible, in two experimental conditions: fixating the eye on a target and performing saccadic movement toward a target presented in two different locations (0.5 Hz). Each participant performed 3 trials in each condition, lasting 62 s each. Body oscillation was obtained in both anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions. Results showed that SD participants swayed with a larger magnitude and higher velocity after sleep deprivation in the fixation condition. In the saccadic condition, body sway magnitude and velocity were reduced but were still larger/higher in the SD participants. Sleep deprivation deteriorates the performance of postural control. Saccadic eye movements improve postural control performance even in sleep-deprived participants but are still not sufficient to avoid postural control deterioration due to sleep deprivation.

BACKGROUND: Sleep deprivation is common nowadays and considering that attention is important to our daily activities, it is important to compare the effects of sleep deprivation on sustained attention.AIM: This study investigated the effects of sleep deprivation on sustained attention in young adults.METHOD: Sixteen adults were evaluated both after a normal and after one night of sleep deprivation. Sustained attention was assessed through the Tolouse-Piéron Test (TPT), measuring the number of correct responses (CR), omissions, and attention coefficient, at first, fifth and tenth minutes of the test.RESULTS: Results revealed a reduction in the number of CR in the fifth compared to the first minute but only in the post-test session. The number of omissions increased in the fifth compared to the first minute in the post sleep deprivation. Attention coefficient decreased in the fifth and tenth compared to the first minute.CONCLUSION: Sleep deprivation deteriorates sustained attention, especially when adults are required to maintain attention for long periods.

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