Cognitive replay of visuomotor learning at sleep onset: temporal dynamics and relationship to task performance.
Erin J. Wamsley, Karen Perry, Ina Djonlagic, Laura Babkes Reaven, Robert Stickgold
Sleep January 1, 2010 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/33.1.59 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDuring light NREM sleep, people's dream reports often replay recent waking experiences. In a visuomotor learning task, 30% of verbal reports collected from sleeping participants related to the task. The replay became more abstracted from the original experience as sleep progressed. These findings suggest that memory reactivation during sleep is reflected in subjective dream content, offering a window into cognitive processing in the sleeping brain.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 43 |
| Population | Healthy, medication-free college students (16 males, age 18-25 years) |
| Intervention | visuomotor learning task |
| Duration | One or more days |
| Key finding | The learning task exerted a powerful, direct effect on verbal reports of mentation during light NREM sleep, with 30% of all verbal reports related to the task. |
Abstract
Studies of neural activity in animals and humans suggest that experiences are "replayed" in cortical and hippocampal networks during NREM sleep. Here, we examine whether memory reactivation in sleeping humans might also be evident within reports of concomitant subjective experience (i.e., dreaming). Participants were trained on an engaging visuomotor learning task across a period of one or more days, and sleep onset mentation was collected at variable intervals using the "Nightcap" home-monitoring device. Verbal reports of sleep onset mentation were obtained either at the beginning of the night, or following 2 h of initial sleep. Data were collected in participants' home environments, via the Nightcap monitoring system, and at The Center for Sleep and Cognition, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston MA. 43 healthy, medication-free college students (16 males, age 18-25 years). N/A. The learning task exerted a powerful, direct effect on verbal reports of mentation during light NREM sleep (stages 1 and 2). On post-training nights, a full 30% of all verbal reports were related to the task. The nature of this cognitive "replay" effect was altered with increasing durations of sleep, becoming more abstracted from the original experience as time into sleep increased. These observations are interpreted in light of memory consolidation theory, and demonstrate that introspective reports can provide a valuable window on cognitive processing in the sleeping brain.