Specific sleepiness symptoms are indicators of performance impairment during sleep deprivation

Abstract

Drivers are not always aware that they are becoming impaired as a result of sleepiness. Using specific symptoms of sleepiness might assist with recognition of drowsiness related impairment and help drivers judge whether they are safe to drive a vehicle, however this has not been evaluated. In this study, 20 healthy volunteer professional drivers completed two randomized sessions in the laboratory - one under 24 h of acute sleep deprivation, and one with alcohol. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) and a 30 min simulated driving task (AusEdTM) were performed every 3-4 h in the sleep deprivation session, and at a BAC of 0.00% and 0.05% in the alcohol session, while electroencephalography (EEG..