Female rats are more susceptible to the deleterious effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation on cognitive performance

Paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) may alter subsequent learning and memory capacity. There are differences in both the intensity and direction of responses of the male and female species to the same environmental stimuli and experimental conditions. In the present study, we examined the extent of the effects of PSD for 72 h on spatial learning and memory, anxiety-like behavior, corticosterone levels, and the body weight in male as well as in intact and ovariectomized (OVX) female Wistar rats. Multiple platform method was used for PSD induction. Spatial learning and memory and anxiety-like behavior were determined using Morris water maze (MWM) task and open field test, respectively. The data showed that PSD could not significantly affect subsequent spatial learning and short-term memory in male rats, while it significantly impaired the performance of the intact and OVX female rats. The PSD-intact and -OVX female rats showed more memory impairment than the PSD-male animals. Those impairments do not appear to be due to elevated stress level, since the plasma corticosterone did not significantly change following PSD induction. The open field data showed that PSD significantly reduced anxiety-like behavior in all experimental groups. In addition, PSD had a reducing effect on the mean body weight of female groups. Such results suggest that the female rats are more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of sleep loss on cognitive performance.

► The negative effects of 72 h PSD on spatial learning and memory are more severe in female rats.
► Female rats are more vulnerable to the PSD induced body weight loss.
► Multiple platform technique for inducing PSD does not elevate the stress hormone level (corticosterone) of animals.
► After 72 h of PSD both the male and female rats are less fearful in the open field test.