Effects of napping on impulse control

236 - Effects of napping on impulse control Presented by: Ugo Faraguna M. Rondelli1, M. Di Galante2, T. Banfi1, P. d'Ascanio1, G. Bernardi1, E. Bonanni1, U. Faraguna1,2 1University of Pisa, 2Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy Objectives: Among the many beneficial effects of nocturnal sleep, an improvement in impulse control has been repeatedly shown. Conversely, sleep deprivation significantly compromises subjects´ performance in task involving impulse control. Here we aimed at evaluating whether mid-afternoon napping may have a beneficial effect on impulse control performance. Methods and materials: Seven young adults (mean age=26+8.22 yrs) who had normal sleep-wake habits without habitual daytime napping participated in the study. They underwent two testing sessions with a validated Go/NoGo task (Garavan et al. 1999). The first session consisted of two blocks: one preceding while the other one following napping, performed at least 30 minutes after awakening (Nap Session - average NREM nap duration 48+15 min). Each block was preceded by a Psychomotor Vigilance Task trial, used to control for vigilance and for potential effects of sleep inertia. During this session, subjects went to bed around 3 p.m. and were allowed to sleep for a maximum of one hour. They were awakened in case the EEG would show signs of transition to REM, which was prevented in every subject. A week later the same subjects underwent the control session, repeating the two PVT and Go/NoGo blocks, but spending the same time between blocks in quiet waking, rather than sleeping (Control No-Nap Session). During both sessions all subjects were monitored by a 64-Ch EEG system. Activity monitoring by actigraphy covered at least three days preceding each session. Results: During the post-nap block subjects showed a significant improvement in the proportion of correct responses when no go stimuli were presented (“correct withholds”, post-nap mean=0.521±0.424 versus pre-nap mean=0.398±0.184, p= 0.019, t=3.163). In the control session, subjects did not show any significant improvement (p=0.395). Conclusion: The present results revealed the positive effects of mid-afternoon napping on impulse control as measured by a standard Go/NoGo task.