[The negative impact of sleep disorders on working memory may be mediated by changes in carbohydrate metabolism].

Sleep restriction and sleep disturbances are very common in modern industrialized societies, increasing the risk for the development of chronic sleep deficiency in the long term. Sleep disturbances are known to affect cognitive functions, primarily, working memory - the ability to store, update, and manipulate information over brief intervals for use in complex cognitive problems solving. However, the specific mechanisms underlying the decline in working memory due to disturbed sleep are still unclear. Since insufficient or disturbed sleep affects the physiological and endocrine processes involved in the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism, the authors hypothesize that the effect of sleep disturbances on working memory may be due to changes in glucose metabolism; also the review discusses the mechanisms mediating the effect of sleep disturbances on glucose tolerance and provides data on the dependence of working memory on changes in carbohydrate metabolism.