Memory reactivation in slow wave sleep enhances relational learning in humans

Santamaria, Lorena, Kashif, Ibad, McGinley, Niall and Lewis, Penelope A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1793-3520 2024. Memory reactivation in slow wave sleep enhances relational learning in humans. Communications Biology 7 (1) , 288. 10.1038/s42003-024-05947-7

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Abstract

Sleep boosts the integration of memories, and can thus facilitate relational learning. This benefit may be due to memory reactivation during non-REM sleep. We set out to test this by explicitly cueing reactivation using a technique called targeted memory reactivation (TMR), in which sounds are paired with learned material in wake and then softly played during subsequent sleep, triggering reactivation of the associated memories. We specifically tested whether TMR in slow wave sleep leads to enhancements in inferential thinking in a transitive inference task. Because the Up-phase of the slow oscillation is more responsive to cues than the Down-phase, we also asked whether Up-phase stimulation is more beneficial for such integration. Our data show that TMR during the Up-Phase boosts the ability to make inferences, but only for the most distant inferential leaps. Up-phase stimulation was also associated with detectable memory reinstatement, whereas Down-phase stimulation led to below-chance performance the next morning. Detection of memory reinstatement after Up-state stimulation was negatively correlated with performance on the most difficult inferences the next morning. These findings demonstrate that cueing memory reactivation at specific time points in sleep can benefit difficult relational learning problems.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	Nature Research
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	11 March 2024
Date of Acceptance:	21 February 2024
Last Modified:	11 Mar 2024 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/167082

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