Objective To study the effects of sleep interruption (SI) on the gait performance and cognitive ability of SD rats. Methods SD rats were randomly divided into eight groups: SI 2 days, SI 5 days, SI 10 days, SI 15 days, and their corresponding control groups, 8 rats in each group. Behavioral alterations in the gait detection (GD), open field (OF), and Morris water maze (MWM) tests were detected after SI for the indicated time periods. Results For the OF test, the total distance, movement speed, total duration of movement, and movement time in the peripheral area decreased following SI, and the total resting duration increased in the 5-day and 10-day SI groups compared with the control group ( P < 0. 05). The GD result showed that compared with the control group, the stride time decreased in the 5-day SI group; the walking speed, Lh-Rf double support time, and Lf-Rh double support time all decreased in the 2-day and 15-day groups, while the Rh-Lh-Rf three support time increased in the 2-day and 15-day SI groups; and the Rh stride length decreased in the 2-day, 5-day, and 15-day SI groups ( P < 0. 05). For the MWM test, compared with the control group, the latency of place navigation of MWM increased between days 1 and 4 in the 5-day SI group, increased between days 2 and 4 in the 10- day SI group, and increased between days 1 and 5 in the 15-day SI group. Conclusions Different durations of SI have varying effects on the result of the GD, OF, and MWM tests in SD rats. The GD test is a more sensitive method for evaluating the SI model than the OF and MWM tests.