biostudies-literatureZhou XDEVCOM Army Research LaboratoryU.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratorye70362https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12460710biostudies-literatureUnknown46(14)Previous research has shown that laboratory-controlled sleep deprivation leads to cognitive impairments, including low vigilance and deficits in working memory. However, the robustness of sleep effects on behavior and brain dynamics in naturalistic settings remains underexplored. In this study, we investigated the impact of naturalistic, unfettered variations in sleep on behavioral performance and brain network dynamics in 39 healthy adults. Using a dynamic networks approach combined with ordinal regression, we show a significant increase in flexibility, a measure of rapid reconfigurations within the brain modules, with decreasing sleep time, particularly in the fronto-parietal control network, during a psychomotor vigilance (PVT) and visual working memory (VWM) task. This change in networHuman brain mappingFlexibility of Brain Networks May Curtail Cognitive Consequences of Poor Sleep.PMC12460710W911SR-15-2-0001W911SR‐15‐2‐0001Falk EVettel JMGrafton SGarcia JOElliott JCLawhern VJBansal KLauharatanahirun NGiesbrecht BZhou XFlynn-Evans EThurman SMfalseFlexibility of Brain Networks May Curtail Cognitive Consequences of Poor Sleep.Previous research has shown that laboratory-controlled sleep deprivation leads to cognitive impairments, including low vigilance and deficits in working memory. However, the robustness of sleep effects on behavior and brain dynamics in naturalistic settings remains underexplored. In this study, we investigated the impact of naturalistic, unfettered variations in sleep on behavioral performance and brain network dynamics in 39 healthy adults. Using a dynamic networks approach combined with ordinal regression, we show a significant increase in flexibility, a measure of rapid reconfigurations within the brain modules, with decreasing sleep time, particularly in the fronto-parietal control network, during a psychomotor vigilance (PVT) and visual working memory (VWM) task. This change in networ2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Oct2026-06-03T20:13:22.892Z2026-05-01T03:11:02.692ZS-EPMC124607104099398710.1002/hbm.70362