Lifebrain Monthly E-newsletter September 2019

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The sleeping brain and memory

We function better when we are rested than when we are tired. A good night’s sleep helps us stay mentally refreshed and ready to learn and remember new information throughout the day. Conversely, lack of sleep impairs the mental abilities we need to function well in school, at work and in our daily life, such as attention, decision making and memory. But sleep does more than reboot our mental abilities. Sleep is important for the long-term storage of memories, or what is called consolidation.

Source: Colourbox

Why is sleep important for consolidation?

Several studies have shown that going to sleep shortly after we have learned something helps us retain and recall that information later. For example, when cramming for an exam, going to bed shortly thereafter will help you to keep that material in memory and remember it on the exam. In other words, sleep after learning reduces forgetting. Even short naps after learning have been shown to improve memory performance. An important question here is whether the relation between sleep and memory is just associative, or whether sleep actually plays a causal role in forming our memories. Early theories held that sleep plays a passive role in memory consolidation by protecting memories from outside disturbance. Newer theories highlight the causal and active role of sleep in triggering processes that strengthen, reorganize and transfer new memories into long-term storage.

How is sleep important for consolidation?

Brain imaging studies have shown that the same brain areas that were active during learning are repeatedly activated afterwards, and even continues after we go to sleep. This repeated activation has been proposed as the key mechanism for memory consolidation. According to this idea, newly acquired memories are spontaneously reactivated or “played on repeat” in our brain during sleep. This reactivation strengthens the new memories and integrates them with preexisting knowledge. The more a memory is played on repeat, the better it seems to be recalled later. For example, in several studies people have been presented with memory cues from a previous learning task while they are asleep. The memory cue could be a smell or a sound, which is presented so it does not wake people up. The memory associated with the presented cue is then reactivated more and remembered better than uncued memories. Reactivation also occurs when we are awake when we are repeating exposures in physical training or memorizing intellectual material. However, whether sleep is a more optimal state for memory consolidation to take place is something researchers are currently trying to figure out.

Source of newsletter

This newsletter was edited by Hedda Ness, PhD student, Centre for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo.

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Your comments are always valuable to us, so do not hesitate to contact us.

Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition at the University of Oslo
Kristine B. Walhovd project coordinator
Barbara B. Friedman administrative coordinator
e-mail: info@lifebrain.uio.no
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This project has received funding from the European Union ’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 732592.