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Brief naps during post-lunch rest: Effects on alertness, performance, and

autonomic balance

Article in European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology · July 1998
DOI: 10.1007/s004210050392

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Eur J Appl Physiol (1998) 78: 93±98 Ó Springer-Verlag 1998

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Masaya Takahashi á Hideki Fukuda á Heihachiro Arito

Brief naps during post-lunch rest:

effects on alertness, performance, and autonomic balance

Accepted: 24 January 1998

Abstract This study was designed to examine the e€ects

of brief naps taken after lunch on alertness, perfor-
Introduction
mance, and autonomic balance. Three groups each
Alertness is an important factor a€ecting eciency and
comprising ten healthy subjects, who had slept normally
safety during working hours. Nevertheless, a decline in
at home the previous night, were randomly assigned to
alertness has been shown to occur in the afternoon be-
groups taking one of three lengths of nap (0, 15, and
tween 1400 and 1700 hours and more dramatically in the
45 min) after lunch. The P300, an event-related potential
early morning between 0200 and 0500 hours (Mitler et al.
which is a neurophysiological correlate of cognitive
1988; Roth et al. 1989). Diminished alertness has been
function, subjective sleepiness (visual analogue scale),
found to be enormously costly to industry (National
and electrocardiogram were measured before, 30 min
Commission on Sleep Disorders Research 1993;
after, and 3 h after the naps. Each measurement was
Akerstedt et al. 1994) and it has been shown that taking
followed by an English transcription task lasting 90 min.
naps can help to o€set diminished alertness (Dinges
The P300 latency was signi®cantly shorter after the 15-
1992; Naitoh 1992; Muzet et al. 1995; Rosekind et al.
min than after the 45-min nap, or after no nap had been
1995). It has been reported that in addition to naps of a
taken, while its amplitude was not a€ected by the length
few hours (Dinges et al. 1987; Bonnet 1991), naps of
of nap. Subjective sleepiness was lower after both naps
even 30 min or less can improve subsequent alertness
than after no nap. The task performance was signi®-
and performance when taken at 1045 hours (Gillberg
cantly better during the second half of the last task
et al. 1996), 1500 hours (Horne and Reyner 1996) or
session after the 15-min nap than after no nap. The high-
1635 hours (Taub et al. 1977).
frequency component of the R-R interval spectrum in-
A brief nap, however, may be more appropriate after
creased signi®cantly during the 45-min nap, showing a
lunch at the workplace. To test the hypothesis that a
temporary shift to a predominance of the parasympa-
brief nap after lunch has the same bene®t as naps taken
thetic nervous system. Mean total sleep times during the
at other times of the day, we examined the e€ects of such
15- and 45-min naps were 7.3 and 30.1 min, respectively.
a nap on alertness, performance, and the balance of
These results would indicate that the 15-min nap may
in¯uences in the autonomic nervous system using the
serve to shorten the stimulus evaluation time, reducing
P300 event-related potential (ERP), a transcription task,
subjective sleepiness, and slightly improving task per-
and variability in the electrocardiogram (ECG) R-R
formance. Our data demonstrated that in our subjects a
interval. Opportunities for 0-, 15-, and 45-min naps were
brief nap after lunch was e€ective for enhancing subse-
provided to determine the e€ects of di€erent nap
quent alertness and performance after normal sleep the
lengths. The P300, which has been described as a neu-
previous night.
rophysiological correlate of cognitive function (Picton
1992), has been shown to be in¯uenced by alertness
Key words Nap á P300 á Alertness á Performance á
(Polich and Kok 1995). The spectrum components of the
Autonomic balance
R-R interval variability, which have been found to re-
¯ect cardiac autonomic functions (Akserlod et al. 1981;
M. Takahashi (&) á H. Fukuda á H. Arito
Pagani et al. 1986; Malliani et al. 1991), may be useful
National Institute of Industrial Health, 21-1, Nagao 6 chome, for assessing the e€ects of naps on the autonomic ner-
Tama-ku, Kawasaki 214-8585, Japan vous system.
94
Methods
Subjects
Three groups, each comprising 10 healthy volunteers (11 men and
19 women, aged 20±30 years), were paid for their participation in
the experiment. At an initial interview no subject reported any
history of sleep disorder or cardiovascular disease. The study
protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of our Institute,
and informed consent was obtained.
Procedure
The subjects received an explanation of the study and underwent a
task training session on the 1st day of the experiment. They were
instructed to sleep for 7 h at home, and this was veri®ed by an
activity monitor attached to the wrist of the nondominant arm
(Motionlogger Actigraph, Ambulatory Monitoring, USA). On the
2nd day, after application of electrodes, the subjects performed one
session of a 90-min English transcription task (Fig. 1). After a 30-
min lunch break, they were randomly assigned to take one of three
lengths of nap: no nap (n ˆ 10), 15-min (n ˆ 10), and 45-min
(n ˆ 10) naps. Each of the two naps started at 1230 hours on a
bed in a darkened, electrically shielded chamber. The electroen-
cephalogram (EEG), the horizontal and vertical electro-oculogram
(EOG), the electromyogram (EMG), and the ECG were recorded.
The 30-min period after both naps involved reading in the sitting
position outside the chamber. The subjects in the no-nap group
were allowed to read undisturbed sitting on a chair outside the
chamber. After each condition, all the subjects completed two
additional tasks separated by 60 to 90 min of rest.
The P300, subjective sleepiness, and 5-min ECG were measured
in the sitting position prior to each task. The electrophysiological
signals were recorded (EEG-4217, Nihon Kohden, Japan) and
stored on an FM tape recorder (XR-7000L, TEAC, Japan).
P300 recording and analysis
The P300 was elicited by attempting to discriminate between bin-
aural tones at two frequencies delivered through a headphone at
50 dB having 10 ms rise/fall and durations of 100 ms (auditory
oddball paradigm). Every 2 s, 200 tones were randomly presented
20% of which were at 2000 Hz (target tones) and 80% at 1000 Hz
(non-target tones). The subjects pressed a button with the thumb of
the preferred hand as quickly as possible upon detecting the target
tone. The reaction time (RT) was the time elapsed between the
stimulus and key-pressing. Mean RT and the percentage of correct
detections were calculated.
The EEG was recorded from the midline frontal (Fz†, midline
central (Cz), and midline parietal (Pz) electrode sites according to
the 10±20 electrode system and referenced to linked earlobes with
an interelectrode impedance of less than 5 KX. The horizontal and
vertical EOG activities were also recorded. The time constant and
high-frequency cut-o€ ®lter for the EEG and the EOG were 1.0 s
Fig. 1 Protocol of the present experiment
and 30 Hz, respectively. The EEG and vertical EOG signals were
digitized on-line at 1 ms per point for 1100 ms including a 100-ms
pre-stimulus baseline (Evoked Potential Analyser, Medical Re-
search Equipment, Japan).
Trials in which the EEG or EOG exceeded ‹ 50 lV, and trials
with erroneous responses, were not included. The P300 component
was the largest positive peak occurring 250±500 ms after the
stimulus. The P300 amplitude was measured relative to the aver-
aged amplitude in the 100 ms prior to the stimulus. The P300 la-
tency was measured as the time at which the P300 component
reached its maximal amplitude.
Subjective sleepiness
A 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS) was administered to
quantify subjective sleepiness as has been described by Monk
(1987).
English transcription task
During the transcription task, the subjects typed a scienti®c
manuscript in English as accurately as possible using a word pro-
cessor for 90 min without rest. They also recorded the time needed
to complete transcription of each paragraph but performed at their
own pace without reward or penalty as has been described in a
previous papers (Takahashi and Arito 1994, 1996a). Each task
session was divided into two blocks of 45 min, and the number of
words transcribed (T), the number of words transcribed errone-
ously (E), and the error rates (percentage of E/T) were calculated
for each block.
Spectrum analysis of R-R interval variability
Calculation of the R-R interval spectrum included 256-s R-R in-
tervals derived from the 5-min ECG signals as has been described
by Takahashi and Arito (1996a, b). The time-series data, interpo-
lated linearly, were subjected to power spectrum analysis using fast
Fourier transformation. From the resulting R-R interval spectrum,
low frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) powers were obtained
by integrating corresponding powers over 0.05±0.15 Hz and over
0.15±0.5 Hz, respectively. Percentage values (%LF and %HF)
were calculated as the LF or HF power relative to the total power
over 0.02±0.5 Hz. Mean R-R intervals (mean RR) were computed.
Sleep variables during naps
Polysomnographic recordings during the naps were scored visually
in 20-s epochs according to the criteria of Rechtscha€en and Kales
(1968).
Statistical analysis
The P300 was analysed by three-factor analysis of variance
(ANOVA) with repeated measures. The factors examined included
the length of nap (0, 15, and 45 min), time of measurement [before
the nap (1030 hours), and 30 min (1330 to 1400 hours) and 3 h
after the end of the nap (1630 hours)], and electrode site (Fz, Cz,
and Pz). Subjective sleepiness, %LF, %HF, mean RR, and mean
RT were analysed by nap ´ measurement period ANOVA. The
degree of freedom was corrected using the Greenhouse-Geisser
procedure (Vasey and Thayer 1987). Post-hoc comparisons were
made using the Newman-Keuls test. The measurements of tran-
scription task performance were analysed by nap ´ session ´ block
ANOVA using the Greenhouse-Geisser correction, followed by the
Newman-Keuls test. Before the ANOVA, the error rates were
transformed to the arcsine values of their square roots. Sleep
variables were compared between the 15- and 45-min nap condi-
tions by the Mann-Whitney U-test.
 95

Results

Total sleep time on the previous night

The total sleep times (TST) as determined from the

actigraphic data, were comparable among the no nap,
15-min, and 45-min naps [mean 7.6 (SEM 0.3) h, 7.2
(SEM 0.2) h, 7.5 (SEM 0.4) h, respectively].

P300 and behavioural measurements

Figure 2 shows averaged ERP at the Pz site to the target

tones of one subject for each of the three naps. The P300
latency was shortened by 24 ms after the 15-min nap,
whereas it was delayed by 17 ms after the 45-min nap
and by 65 ms after no map.
The nap ´ time of measurement interaction was sig-
ni®cant for the P300 latency [F(4,54) ˆ 3.10,
P < 0.05]. Post-hoc comparisons showed that the P300
latency decreased after the 15-min nap in comparison
with the 45-min nap and no nap (Fig. 3). Similarly, the
P300 latency tended to be shorter 3 h after the 15-min
nap than after the 45-min nap or no nap.
With respect to nap conditions, neither e€ects nor
interactions were signi®cant for the P300 amplitude
(Fig. 3). The e€ect of the electrode site indicated that the
P300 amplitude increased di€erentially across the Fz
(10.9 lV), Cz (16.4 lV), and Pz (19.6 lV) sites [F(2,54)
ˆ 91.33, P < 0.01]. No signi®cant e€ect or interaction
was found for the mean RT. The subjects performed the
P300 task nearly perfectly, since the mean percentage of
correct detections exceeded 99% under each nap con-
dition.
Subjective sleepiness
Fig. 3 Latency and amplitude of P300 (at Pz site), subjective
sleepiness, and components of the R-R interval spectrum for the 15-
min nap (m), 45-min nap (j), and no nap (s). Data are means and
SEM. *Signi®cantly di€erent from the 45-min nap or no nap at
P < 0.05. %HF, %LF Percentage high and low frequency power,
respectively
Transcription task performance
The nap ´ session ´ block interaction was signi®cant
for the error rate [F(4,54) ˆ 2.76, P < 0.05]. Figure 4
shows that the error rate during the ®rst half of the
second task session tended to be low after the 15-min
nap in comparison with the 45-min nap and no nap. In
the late block of the third task session, the error rate
after the 15-min nap was reduced to half of that after no
nap. Neither e€ects nor interactions related to nap
condition were found in terms of the number of words
transcribed or the number of transcription errors.

The e€ects of both time of measurement

[F(2,54) ˆ 4.39, P < 0.05] and nap ´ time of mea-
surement interaction [F(4,54) ˆ 4.98, P < 0.01] were
signi®cant: levels of subjective sleepiness decreased after
both naps in comparison with no nap (Fig. 3).

Fig. 2 Averaged event-related potentials in response to the target
tones of one subject for the 15-min nap, 45-min nap, and no nap
during each measurement period. The recording site was the midline
parietal (Pz) site. Peaks of the P300 component are indicated by arrows
Fig. 4 Error rates during each task session for the 15-min nap (m),
45-min nap (j), and no nap (s). The error rate was de®ned as the
number of words transcribed erroneously as a percentage of the total
number of words transcribed during each block. Data are means and
SEM. * Signi®cantly di€erent from no nap at P < 0.05. ANOVA for
error rates was performed after arcsine transformation of their square
roots
96

Table 1 Sleep variables during the 15- and 45-min naps. TST Total
sleep time, REM rapid eye movement. All the subjects were awa-
kened from the naps at stage 2 sleep or shallower

15-min nap 45-min nap P*

mean SEM mean SEM

TST (min) 7.3 1.3 30.1 2.4 0.01

Wake (min) 1.1 0.5 7.1 1.6 0.01
Stage 1 (min) 5.2 0.8 16.0 2.9 0.01
Stage 2 (min) 2.1 0.9 9.4 1.8 0.01
Stage 3 (min) 0.0 0.0 2.1 1.2a
Stage 4 (min) 0.0 0.0 2.6 2.0b
REM sleep (min) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Sleep latency (min) 6.7 1.3 7.8 1.7 ns
a
n = 4/10, b n =2/10
* Mann-Whitney U-test, ns non-signi®cant

Sleep variables during nap opportunities

The 15-min nap resulted in a mean TST of 7.3 (SEM 1.3)

min, with a mean of 5.2 min for stage 1 sleep (Table 1).
The 45-min nap increased TST [mean 30.1 (SEM 2.4)
min], the Wake stage, shallow non-rapid eye movement
(nREM stages 1, 2) sleep in comparison with the 15-min
nap (P < 0.01). Only during the 45-min nap was deep
nREM (stages 3, 4) sleep present in 4 of 10 subjects. The
two naps did not include the REM stage sleep and had
similar values of the sleep latency (the time from lights
o€ to three consecutive epochs of stage 1 or deeper
sleep).

Fig. 5 The amount of non-rapid eye movement (nREM) sleep and

R-R interval spectrum
There were no signi®cant e€ects of napping on the
components of the R-R interval spectrum, except for the
e€ect of the time of measurement for the mean RR
[F(2,54) ˆ 15.32, P < 0.01; (Fig. 3)]. The %LF, %HF,
meanRR, and the amount of nREM (stages 1±4) sleep
were averaged for 15-min bins during each of the naps
(Fig. 5). The nREM sleep levelled o€ 30 min after the
start of the 45-min nap [F(2,18) ˆ 7.42, P < 0.01]. The
%HF increased in the middle of the 45-min nap
[F(2,18) ˆ 7.54, P < 0.01], as did the meanRR [F(2,18)
ˆ 6.15, P < 0.05]. The %LF tended to decrease with
an increase in %HF. No signi®cant di€erences between
the two naps were found in the ®rst 15-min averaged
values of any variables.
Discussion
It was found in this study that the 15-min nap shortened
the P300 latency in comparison with both the 45-min
nap and no nap, and reduced subjective sleepiness in
comparison with no nap. The P300 latency has been
shown to correspond to the duration of stimulus eval-
uation processes (Kutas et al. 1977; McCarthy and
the R-R spectrum components during the 15-min (m) and 45-min (j)
naps. Data are means and SEM. a Signi®cantly di€erent from the ®rst
15-min averaged value at P < 0.05. For other de®nitions see Fig. 3
Donchin 1981), and to vary with the level of alertness
(Polich and Kok 1995). It has been found that the P300
latency is prolonged by sleep deprivation (Morris et al.
1992; Humphrey et al. 1994), night work (Yasukouchi
et al. 1995), and excessive daytime sleepiness in
narcoleptics (Aguirre and Broughton 1987), but short-
ened after recovery from increased sleepiness due to
sleep apnoea (Walsleben et al. 1989). Hence, the short-
ened P300 latency found here would indicate that the 15-
min nap facilitates the stimulus evaluation time. As
hypothesized, our data demonstrated the e€ectiveness of
a brief nap after lunch for enhancing subsequent alert-
ness. The e€ects of napping on alertness were evident
after 7.3 min of sleep.
This apparently con¯icts with previous ®ndings that
at least 10 min of sleep have been required to counteract
diminished alertness (Gillberg et al. 1996; Horne and
Reyner 1996). In this regard, it has been shown that it is
important to consider the length of the night's sleep
taken before a nap (Dinges et al. 1987; Naitoh and
Angus 1989; Bonnet 1991; Rosa 1993). While the mean
duration of the previous night's sleep was over 7 h in

this study, it was only 4±5 h in the studies by Gillberg
et al. (1996) and Horne and Reyner (1996). The 7-min
nap in addition to normal sleep at home improved
subsequent alertness. On the other hand, the shortening
of P300 latency without an e€ect on its amplitude
showed that the nap e€ect was re¯ected more clearly in
the P300 latency than in its amplitude. The present
®nding was consistent with that of Wesensten et al.
(1990), who have reported no signi®cant change in the
P300 amplitude after 60-min nap.
On the other hand, no signi®cant decrease in P300
latency was found after the 45-min nap in comparison
with no nap, although subjective sleepiness was reduced.
It has been shown that a decrease in alertness after naps
(i.e. sleep inertia) depends upon an increased amount of
the deep nREM sleep during naps (Dinges et al. 1985;
Muzet et al. 1995). The present study showed that deep
nREM sleep occurred only during the 45-min nap. We
interpreted the absence of a shortened P300 latency as
being due to the persistence of sleep inertia beyond
30 min after the nap. We found that no decrease in P300
latency was accompanied by reduced subjective sleepi-
ness (Fig. 3). This ®nding is similar to that of Johnson
et al. (1991), who have demonstrated a discrepancy be-
tween the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) score
and parameters of subjective sleepiness. Further study
will be needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms of
such a dissociation.
The error rates for the transcription task decreased
after the 15-min nap in comparison with the 45-min nap
and no nap. However, this should be interpreted with
caution, since statistical signi®cance was obtained only
during the last test block. The result may have been due
to a delay in the appearance of the nap e€ect, on the
basis of similar delayed e€ects that have been observed
in other studies using MSLT or the reaction time test
(Lumley et al 1986; Dinges et al. 1987). Alternatively,
the reduced error rate may have been observed more
de®nitely during the test time (1715±1800 hours) in
proximity to the ``forbidden zone'' for sleep, a phase of
increasing alertness (See Lavie 1986; Lavie and Weler
1989).
The elevated %HF during the 45-min nap together
with the increased nREM sleep agrees with the results of
earlier studies that have shown an increase in the HF
component during sleep at night (Van de Borne et al.
1994; Burgess et al. 1996). The present result indicated a
temporary shift to predominance of the parasympathetic
nervous system, since the HF component has been stated
to re¯ect cardiac parasympathetic nervous system ac-
tivity (Akserlod et al. 1981; Pagani et al. 1986; Malliani
et al. 1991). Such parasympathetic nervous system pre-
dominance has been considered to diminish activation of
the sympathetic nervous system caused by occupational
stress and cardiovascular diseases (Lombardi et al. 1987;
Pagani et al. 1991; Kristal-Boneh et al. 1995; Liao et al.
1997). It is suggested that a 45-min nap may therefore
serve to reduce cardiovascular risk during working
hours.
97
In conclusion, a 15-min nap after lunch was found to
be e€ective for improving subsequent alertness and
performance after a normal previous night's sleep.
Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to Professor
Dr. Shosuke Suzuki, Department of Public Health, Gunma Uni-
versity School of Medicine, for his guidance and valuable advice
throughout the study.
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