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Related Experiment Video

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Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
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REM sleep rescues learning from interference.

Elizabeth A McDevitt1, Katherine A Duggan1, Sara C Mednick1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
|December 16, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Sleep, particularly REM sleep, can repair memories damaged by interference. This study shows that REM sleep is crucial for rescuing and consolidating memories that were previously impaired.

Keywords:
InterferenceNappingPerceptual learningPlasticityREM sleep

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Sleep Research
  • Memory Consolidation

Background:

  • Memory interference causes forgetting of temporally-linked events.
  • Sleep is known to consolidate and protect memories from interference.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if sleep can repair memories already damaged by interference.
  • To determine the role of different sleep stages (NREM, REM) in memory repair.

Main Methods:

  • A perceptual learning paradigm was used to induce interference before or after memory consolidation.
  • Brain states during consolidation were varied: active wake, quiet wake, NREM sleep, and NREM+REM sleep.
  • Memory performance was assessed after different interference and consolidation conditions.

Main Results:

  • Interference prior to consolidation impaired memory, with retroactive interference being more disruptive.
  • Sleep, in general, rescued learning damaged by interference.
  • Only naps including REM sleep successfully rescued learning severely impaired by retroactive interference.
  • The extent of rescued learning correlated with the amount of REM sleep.

Conclusions:

  • This study provides the first evidence that the brain can rescue and consolidate memories damaged by interference.
  • REM sleep is essential for repairing memories disrupted by retroactive interference.
  • A theoretical model integrating encoding interference and consolidation processes explains memory retention and loss.