Rapid Eye Movements and Remembering

Empson, Jacob; Clarke, Peter

doi:10.1038/227287a0

Cited by 143 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Specifically, there is an ongoing controversy concerning the differential contribution of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow wave sleep (SWS) to memory consolidation. In particular, human studies provided mixed results, some indicating a beneficial effect of REM sleep on memory (Empson and Clarke 1970;Lewin and Glaubman 1975;Tilley and Empson 1978) whereas others suggested SWS to be critical for memory formation (Yaroush et al 1971;Barrett and Ekstrand 1972;Fowler et al 1973;Ekstrand 1977). The divergent outcomes appear to reflect differences in the methods used for investigating memory formation during sleep and in the type of memory examined.…”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…A comparison of the materials used in the various studies leads to the speculation that circadian influences are more likely to emerge with the more complex texts to be remembered than with the simple word pairs. However, complexity of the material is also a factor sensitive to the effects of sleep stages independent of circadian influences, as consolidation for complex and meaningful materials has been shown to benefit more from REM sleep than from SWS (Empson and Clarke 1970;Tilley and Empson 1978;Scrima 1982;Smith 1995).…”

Section: Emotional Memory and Rem Sleepmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotional Memory Formation Is Enhanced across Sleep Intervals with High Amounts of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Wagner¹,

Gais²,

Born³

2001

Learn. Mem.

532

387

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Recent studies indicated a selective activation during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep of the amygdala known to play a decisive role in the processing of emotional stimuli. This study compared memory retention of emotional versus neutral text material over intervals covering either early sleep known to be dominated by nonREM slow wave sleep (SWS) or late sleep, in which REM sleep is dominant. Two groups of men were tested across 3-h periods of early and late sleep (sleep group) or corresponding retention intervals filled with wakefulness (wake group). Sleep was recorded polysomnographically. Cortisol concentrations in saliva were monitored at acquisition and retrieval testing. As expected, the amount of REM sleep was about three times greater during late than during early retention sleep, whereas a reversed pattern was observed for SWS distribution (P < 0.001). Sleep improved retention, compared with the effects of wake intervals (P < 0.02). However, this effect was substantial only in the late night (P < 0.005), during which retention was generally worse than during the early night (P < 0.02). Late sleep particularly enhanced memory for emotional texts. This effect was highly significant in comparison with memory for neutral texts (P < 0.01) and in comparison with memory after late and early wake intervals (P < 0.001). Cortisol concentration differed between early and late retention intervals but not between sleep and wake conditions. Results are consonant with a supportive function of REM sleep predominating late sleep for the formation of emotional memory in humans.It is well established that sleep has a facilitating effect on memory formation in animals and humans (e.g., Jenkins and Dallenbach 1924;Smith 1985Smith , 1995Stickgold et al. 2000). However, the physiological mechanisms of this effect are still unclear. Specifically, there is an ongoing controversy concerning the differential contribution of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow wave sleep (SWS) to memory consolidation. In particular, human studies provided mixed results, some indicating a beneficial effect of REM sleep on memory (Empson and Clarke 1970;Lewin and Glaubman 1975;Tilley and Empson 1978) whereas others suggested SWS to be critical for memory formation (Yaroush et al. 1971;Barrett and Ekstrand 1972;Fowler et al. 1973;Ekstrand 1977). The divergent outcomes appear to reflect differences in the methods used for investigating memory formation during sleep and in the type of memory examined. The most commonly used approach in the study of sleepassociated memory formation is the REM sleep deprivation paradigm, in which subjects are awakened whenever polysomnographic recordings indicate signs of REM sleep. In control conditions, awakenings are induced in nonREM sleep. Yet the REM sleep-deprivation paradigm has been subject to profound criticism (Horne and McGrath 1984; Vertes and Eastman, in press). Compared with other sleep stages, frequent arousal from REM sleep induces serious emotional and cognitive disturbances. These disturbances impa...

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mentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Emotional Memory and Rem Sleepmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional Memory Formation Is Enhanced across Sleep Intervals with High Amounts of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Wagner¹,

Gais²,

Born³

2001

Learn. Mem.

532

387

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A recent and growing body of evidence has indicated that sleep is associated with cognition abilities (Empson and Clarke 1970;Fishbein et al 1974;Salzarulo and Cipolli 1979;Smith 1985;Tilley and Warren 1984;Szelenberger and Niemcewicz 2000;Wetzel et al 2003). Moreover, studies of young adults and animals have demonstrated a specific facilitating effect of sleep on memory (Roehrs and Roth 2000;Steenary et al 2003: Hornung et al 2005Walker and Stickgold 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between memory impairment and insomnia among older adults

Haimov

2006

Eur J Ageing

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Chronic insomnia and memory impairment are both common complaints among older adults. Even so, only a few studies to date have examined the effects of chronic insomnia on memory processes among older people, and the results of these studies are contradictory. Therefore, in the current study we examined whether late-life insomnia is associated with the memory status of older adults. The study population comprised two groups: 50 older adult subjects without sleep disorders, and 23 older adult insomniacs. Memory processing for each of the two groups was evaluated using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT). The results demonstrate that chronic insomnia in older adults is associated with impairment in memory. Specifically, we found that older people suffering from late-life insomnia exhibit significantly reduced performance in learning rate and in temporal order judgment as well as significantly reduced resistance to proactive interference. The present findings suggest that late-life insomnia may be one of the factors contributing to the decline in memory processing seen among older people.

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“…However, De Koninck et al (1989) demonstrated significant increases in post-training REM sleep after intensive learning of a foreign language, with the degree of successful learning correlating with the percentage increase of REM sleep. Similar inconsistencies have been reported in the degree to which intensive learning experiences during wake can alter subsequent sleep-stage properties, as well as the learning impairments that follow selective sleep deprivation (Chernik 1972;Empson & Clarke 1970;Lewin & Glaubman 1975;Meienberg 1977;Plihal & Born 1997;Zimmerman et al 1970;1978). This lack of agreement between studies may reflect inappropriate retest schedules.…”

Section: The Current Status Of Sleep Learning and Memorymentioning

confidence: 86%

“…This lack of agreement between studies may reflect inappropriate retest schedules. Alternatively, it may be a consequence of the significant differences in task characteristics, such as the degree of experimental difficulty (Empson & Clarke 1970;Tilley & Empson 1978), or the emotional salience of the test (Wagner et al 2001), each of which may drive sleep dependency. An examination of different declarative memory categories, including episodic and semantic forms has also not been fully investigated (Cipolli & Salzarulo 1980), and may add further to the apparent contradictions in the degree to which sleep is or is not important.…”

Section: The Current Status Of Sleep Learning and Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Where is the classic interference theory for sleep and memory?

Coenen

2005

Behav Brain Sci

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Walker's target article proposes a refinement of the well known two-stage model of memory formation to explain the positive effects of sleep on consolidation. After a first stage in which a labile memory representation is formed, a further stabilisation of the memory trace takes place in the second stage, which is dependent on (REM) sleep. Walker has refined the latter stage into a stage in which a consolidation-based enhancement occurs. It is not completely clear what consolidation-based enhancement implies and how it can be dissociated from a stage for memory-stabilisation. A more serious consideration, however, is whether a second stage in memory consolidation that is solely dependent on sleep, is really necessary. The classical, passive, interference theory is able to explain adequately the findings related to the effects of sleep and memory, and can lead perhaps better to an understanding of the highly variable data in this field.

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Rapid Eye Movements and Remembering

Cited by 143 publications

References 8 publications

Emotional Memory Formation Is Enhanced across Sleep Intervals with High Amounts of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Emotional Memory Formation Is Enhanced across Sleep Intervals with High Amounts of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Association between memory impairment and insomnia among older adults

Where is the classic interference theory for sleep and memory?

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