Lack of sleep affects which cognitive functions?

• A. language, memory, planning and sense of time
• B. legs and arms
• C. taste only
• D. hearing only

Answer: (A)

Lack of sleep hits higher-level thinking first. Sleep helps memories consolidate and keeps working memory ready, so when you’re sleep-deprived you’re more likely to forget words, have trouble retrieving language, and struggle with planning and organizing tasks. Your sense of how long things take can also become unreliable because attention and processing speed slow down. So language, memory, planning, and sense of time are the cognitive functions most affected by not getting enough sleep. The other options focus on physical movement or basic senses, which aren’t the cognitive areas this question targets.