WSU researchers get $1.7 million for sleep-deprivation training

Researchers from Washington State University’s Sleep and Performance Research Center received a $1.7 million grant to develop training that helps prevent sleep-deprived people from making serious errors.

Funding for the three-year project comes from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, a partnership between the U.S. Congress, military and public.

The project aims to reduce decision-making errors that contribute to failed military missions, industrial accidents, workplace injuries and financial losses during volatile markets, said Hans Van Dongen, a research professor in WSU’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

When people are tired, they have trouble acting on new information, especially in dynamic circumstances.

Training sleep-deprived people to adapt to changing circumstances would benefit people in high-stakes jobs, such as soldiers, surgeons, pilots and politicians, Van Dongen said.