Sleep-related consolidation of a visuomotor skill: brain mechanisms as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging

Subjects were trained on a pursuit task in which the target trajectory was predictable only on the horizontal axis. Half of them were sleep deprived on the first post-training night (n = 13). Three days later, functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed task-related increases in brain responses to the learned trajectory, as compared with a new trajectory. In the sleeping group (n = 12) as compared with the sleep-deprived group, subjects' performance was improved, and their brain activity was greater in the superior temporal sulcus (STS). Increased functional connectivity was observed between the STS and the cerebellum and between the supplementary eye field and the frontal eye field. These differences indicate sleep-related plastic changes during motor skill learning in areas involved in smooth pursuit eye movements.