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Updated: Jun 21, 2025

Measuring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation During Naps in Early Childhood
Published on: October 2, 2019
The impact of sleep quality on visual working memory varied with the duration of maintenance
Li Gong1,2, Mengwei Wang1, Chaoxiong Ye1,3
1Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.
Objective:
Sleep quality can affect the performance of visual working memory. However, the effect of sleep quality on the maintenance stage, which is the key to maintain the quality and efficiency of visual working memory representation, remains unclear. This study is the first to explore the effect of sleep quality on the maintenance of visual working memory information.
Method:
60 healthy college students completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and color recall task of visual working memory. A mixed experimental design of sleep quality (high or low) and delay duration (1, 4, or 6 s) was used to assess the effect of sleep quality on the maintenance phase of visual working memory.
Results:
The main effects of sleep quality were significant on visual working memory quantity, precision and offset indexes. Among the quantity index, the interaction between sleep quality and delay duration was also significant. This suggests that prolonging the delay time in the maintenance phase leads to difficulty in maintaining attention to the task for those with lower sleep quality, which results in poorer working memory quantitative representations.
Conclusion:
Increases in the delay duration of the maintenance phase in visual working memory intensify the impact of sleep quality on task performance. Our study provides evidence to reveal the relationship between sleep quality and visual working memory and offers recommendations for improving sleep quality and cognitive functioning in individuals.
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