The impact of partial sleep deprivation on the modulation of pain: Psychophysical and neurophysiological correlates

Objective: The experiment investigates the impact of sleep deprivation on cortical evoked potential correlates of central nociceptive processing. Methods: Ten healthy subjects with good sleep quality (Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index ≤5) were investigated twice, once after a night of habitual sleep and once after partial sleep deprivation. Laser heat pulses eliciting moderately painful pinprick sensations were applied to the dorsum of the hand. Attentional focus during the painful stimulation was systematically varied. Volunteers were challenged to either discriminate between different stimulus intensities (focused…