Sleep-based memory processing facilitates grammatical generalization: Evidence from targeted memory reactivation

Abstract

Generalization — the ability to abstract regularities from specific examples and apply them to novel instances — is an essential component of language acquisition. Generalization not only depends on exposure to input during wake, but may also improve offline during sleep. Here we examined whether targeted memory reactivation during sleep can influence grammatical generalization. Participants gradually acquired the grammatical rules of an artificial language through an interactive learning procedure. Then, phrases from the language (experimental group) or stimuli from an unrelated task (control group) were covertly presented during an afternoon nap. Compared to control participants, participants re-exposed to the language during sleep showed larger gains in grammatical generalization. Sleep cues produced a bias, not necessarily a pure gain, suggesting that the capacity for memory replay during sleep is limited. We conclude that grammatical generalization was biased by auditory cueing during sleep, and by extension, that sleep likely influences grammatical generalization in general.

Consolidation Promotes the Emergence of Representational Overlap in the Hippocampus and Medial Prefrontal Cortex

“…In humans, behavioral work has shown that rule acquisition and use is more evident with a temporal delay (Sweegers and Talamini, 2014). Similarly, other work suggests that sleep enhances transitive inference behavior (Ellenbogen et al, 2007; Lau et al, 2010) and benefits the extraction and generalization of statistical regularities across motor and acoustic patterns (Wagner et al, 2004; Durrant et al, 2011, 2013; Batterink and Paller, 2017). However, few studies to date have shed light on how the underlying neural representations of memories with shared features are transformed over time.…”

Cued Memory Reactivation During SWS Abolishes the Beneficial Effect of Sleep on Abstraction

“…Whether TMR can be used in a similar way to promote memory reorganisation and processes of abstraction and generalisation is largely unknown. The first evidence in support of this hypothesis was provided in a recent study by Batterink and colleagues 37 who…”

“…A recent study by Batterink and colleagues 37 , which provided the first evidence that TMR can manipulate grammatical generalisation during sleep, also used memory cues that did not vary probabilistically. Based on these results the question arises whether partially overlapping memory cues might have the potential to disrupt the beneficial effect of sleep on memory reorganisation.…”

Do House-Elves Clean Your Brain While You Sleep?

“…When they woke, they knew the meanings of the words presented while they were asleep better than for those not presented while they were asleep. In a similar study, we improved the learning of rules of grammar important for learning a new language [4]. We also strengthened musical skills during sleep [5].…”