Table 5.

Theories on the Link Between Sleep and Cognition.

Name	Description	Reference
Controlled attention	Monotonous tasks are most affected by sleep loss due to the amount of top-down control needed to sustain attention while more complex/difficult tasks are intrinsically motivating (i.e., bottom-up control).	31
Neuropsychological	Sleep loss results in focal impairment in functions subserved by the prefrontal cortex (i.e., executive functions), beyond any impairment in attention or vigilance.	17,20,76
Vigilance/arousal	Attention, which is needed for the performance of many other cognitive tasks, is mediated by arousal – a common correlated feature of disturbed sleep.	77,78
Wake-state instability	Cognitive deficits observed as a result of sleep loss occur due to the interaction of the drive to maintain alertness and the homeostatic drive to initiate sleep.	79–81

Please note that the above theories are not mutually exclusive, but rather attempt to explain similar phenomena in different ways.