Drivers & Capacity
External evidence synthesis · Supporting · 2010
After 24–48 hours without sleep, attention failures were much larger than reasoning changes
A meta-analysis covering 70 articles, 147 cognitive datasets, and 1,533 healthy adults found that total sleep deprivation had its largest effects on lapses and slowing in simple attention. Reasoning accuracy showed a small, statistically non-significant change.
Research basis
Meta-analysis. 1,533 healthy adults in experimental studies of total sleep deprivation lasting 24–48 hours.
What it supports
Sleep loss as an immediate driver of capacity-relevant cognitive performance, with outcome-specific effects.
Boundary
The studies examined acute total sleep deprivation in laboratory settings. They do not establish effects on executive decisions, leadership performance, or longer-term Biological Capacity.
BOL relevance
Supports an immediate Drivers to Cognitive Capacity pathway while preventing broad claims about executive decision quality.
Source class
Peer-reviewed research
Role in BOL
Supporting
Population context
General adult population
Evidence basis
Conceptual or synthesized
Important null or boundary finding
Reasoning accuracy showed a small, statistically non-significant change.
Full source review pending. Status last assessed 26 July 2026.