Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Malen Daiana Moyano | Email: mamoyano@itba.edu.ar
Malen Daiana Moyano 1°, Micaela Lombardi 1°, Jonas Risso 1°, Aylin Agatha Vazquez Chenlo 1°, Maria Cecilia Gonzalez 1°, Luis Ignacio Brusco 2°, Cecilia Forcato 1°
1° Laboratorio de Sueño y Memoria, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA)
2° Centro de Neuropsiquiatría y Neurología de la Conducta – CENECON, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
Memories become labile after encoding and stabilize through consolidation. They can re-enter this labile state after a reminder, followed by re-stabilization (reconsolidation). Sleep plays a crucial role in memory formation, while Non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep (Non-REM) favors memory consolidation, it has been proposed that REM sleep promotes memory generalization and integration. To test this, we conducted a two-day experiment: participants were trained on day 1 using a sound-word paradigm, followed by a nap of 40 min or 90 min or staying awake, and were evaluated one week later (day 8). Positive correlations emerged between Non-REM sleep time, slow wave activity, spindle count, and day 8 performance for both nap duration groups. However, no significant differences were observed in performance between groups. Notably, REM sleep correlated negatively with day 8 performance and positively with confusion errors.
In order to enhance memory, reminders were administered six days after initial learning, leading to improved memory performance for those who napped after the learning. The correlations between sleep and memory performance remain inconclusive. Initial findings suggest that REM sleep’s role lies in integration and generalization shown by growing confusion errors over time. Conversely, Non-REM sleep appears to support the consolidation of specific items and memory persistence, highlighting the role of reconsolidation in maintaining updated memories for long-term effects.