Auditory feedback blocks memory benefits of cueing during sleep

It is now widely accepted that re-exposure to memory cues during sleep reactivates memories and can improve later recall. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. As reactivation during wakefulness renders memories sensitive to updating, it remains an intriguing question whether reactiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2015-10, Vol.6 (1), p.8729-8729, Article 8729
Main Authors: Schreiner, Thomas, Lehmann, Mick, Rasch, Björn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/1385/519
631/378/1595
631/378/2619
Acoustic Stimulation
Adult
Case-Control Studies
Cues
Female
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Memory
Mental Recall
multidisciplinary
Recall
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sleep
Young Adult
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Summary:It is now widely accepted that re-exposure to memory cues during sleep reactivates memories and can improve later recall. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. As reactivation during wakefulness renders memories sensitive to updating, it remains an intriguing question whether reactivated memories during sleep also become susceptible to incorporating further information after the cue. Here we show that the memory benefits of cueing Dutch vocabulary during sleep are in fact completely blocked when memory cues are directly followed by either correct or conflicting auditory feedback, or a pure tone. In addition, immediate (but not delayed) auditory stimulation abolishes the characteristic increases in oscillatory theta and spindle activity typically associated with successful reactivation during sleep as revealed by high-density electroencephalography. We conclude that plastic processes associated with theta and spindle oscillations occurring during a sensitive period immediately after the cue are necessary for stabilizing reactivated memory traces during sleep. Exposure to memory cues during sleep improves subsequent memory recall. Here the authors demonstrate that presenting an additional auditory stimulus during a critical time window following the memory cue abolishes the memory benefit of cueing and its oscillatory correlates during sleep in humans.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms9729