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Daytime Alertness Maintenance

Meaning

Daytime Alertness Maintenance is the physiological and neuroendocrine state characterized by sustained, high-quality wakefulness and cognitive clarity throughout the active period of the circadian cycle, resisting the accumulation of sleep drive and preventing pathological somnolence. This represents an optimal balance between the opposing homeostatic and circadian drives that regulate sleep and wakefulness, ensuring consistent attentional capacity and processing speed. Effective maintenance of alertness is fundamentally dependent on robust sleep quality and the proper timing of wake-promoting neurochemicals.