Slow-Wave Sleep Disruption in Adolescence: Brain Responses to Monetary Reward and Loss

Abstract

Among adolescents, there is an association between sleep deprivation and reward seeking, but more work is needed to better understand this association. The goal of this study was to investigate slow-wave sleep disruption (SWD) and activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) during a task measuring reward processing. Participants were 28 healthy adolescents aged 15–17 years (50% female; 57.1% White) who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a monetary incentive delay task to measure reward anticipation and feedback after a baseline (BL) night and a SWD night. There was greater activation of the NAcc during feedback of large loss and less activation of the NAcc during anticipation of large loss after the SWD night relative to the BL night. These results support an association between SWD and reward processing among adolescents. Knowing more about SWD and reward responsivity may provide enhanced treatment and support to adolescents exhibiting sleep problems and risky reward-related behaviors.