Sleep’s role in the reprocessing and restructuring of memory

Koopman, Anne 2020. Sleep’s role in the reprocessing and restructuring of memory. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Sleep disconnects us from our external environment and puts us in a vulnerable state, yet it is surprisingly universal. This thesis looks at the cognitive functions of sleep; specifically, the role of sleep in reprocessing and restructuring memory. It is now well-known that sleep actively consolidates memories, and even restructures them. This is likely achieved through the reactivation of memory representations. Previous research has shown that such reactivations can be triggered with a method called targeted memory reactivation (TMR). In Chapter 2, I used TMR during rapid eye movement (REM) and slow-wave sleep (SWS) to investigate the effect of cueing in these stages on electrophysiology and subsequent task behaviour in a two-handed serial reaction time task. TMR during SWS led to detectable memory reactivation, and significant behavioural improvements in the non-dominant but not the dominant hand. TMR during REM did not affect behaviour, although electrophysiological results indicated that cues were processed during this stage. Chapter 3 examined the effects of REM and SWS TMR on an associative memory task. We did not find any effect of SWS TMR. On the other hand, REM TMR improved remote associations between items which were not learned together but whose relationship could be inferred, indicating a role for REM sleep in memory restructuring. This was supported by a difference in event-related potentials in response to memory-related and control cues. However, two replications of the REM group showed that these results were not reliable. Chapter 4, finally, looked at the effects of wakefulness and sleep on two creative tasks. The more word-based task indeed benefitted from an interval containing sleep, but the more conceptual task showed improvements relating to wakefulness and time of day.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 December 2020
Date of Acceptance:	17 December 2020
Last Modified:	18 Dec 2020 10:28
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/137090

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