Sleep deprivation and extraocular muscles: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Sleep is a state of altered consciousness where the sensory activity continues but voluntary muscle movement and interactions with surroundings are greatly reduced. People tend to have inadequate amount of sleep and as a result develop a sleep debt which adversely affects their functions, including the extra ocular muscles. This study was planned with the objective to compare the extraocular potentials of sleep deprived study subjects with those that had slept well. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. BioPac data acquisition unit was used to record electro ocular potentials of sleep deprived and well slept students during pendular tracking, vertical tracking, simulated tracking and saccadic eye movements. Results: Of the 17 medical students, there were 8 males and 9 females. The mean sleep debt for experimental group was 27.3±3.15 hours and the mean sleep time for the control group was 8.2±1.5 hours. There was a slight decrease in the overall mean voltage of the experimental group during the pendulum tracking and simulated pendulum tracking movements. A decrease in the mean voltage for vertical tracking and simulated vertical tracking was also observed between the two groups. There was a delay in the saccadic movements noted in experimental group as compared to control. Conclusion: Sleep debt affects the electro ocular potentials causing a decrease in the voltage of extraocular potentials recorded in tracking movements and a delay in time taken for saccadic movements.

Pak J Physiol 2020;16(1):20–3