The June 2025 FAA study titled “Exploratory Development of Biomarkers for Neurobehavioral Performance Impairment During Sleep Loss” investigated how different types of sleep deprivation affect neurobehavioral performance and gene expression. Conducted over 10 days with 59 healthy adult volunteers, the study compared total sleep deprivation (TD), nighttime restriction (NR), daytime restriction (DR), and normal sleep (control). Researchers found that both reduced sleep quantity and altered timing—especially daytime sleep—significantly impaired performance on tasks measuring attention, memory, and reaction time. These impairments were linked to measurable changes in gene expression, with specific biomarkers like STEAP4 and AKAP5 emerging as reproducible indicators of fatigue-related decline. The DR group, simulating shiftwork, showed deficits nearly as severe as TD participants, highlighting the risks of circadian disruption. The study concluded that molecular biomarkers may one day offer precise tools for fatigue monitoring in safety-critical settings, supplementing traditional scheduling-based risk management.
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(37 pages)
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