Scientists have delved deeper into the links between memory and sleep as well as the consolidation process. In the course of the study, they were able to boost the memories of sleeping participants by synchronously activating particular brain regions.
Memory Consolidation During Sleep
According to the Jerusalem Post, the study involved patients with severe epilepsy who agreed to be involved in the study while being monitored for seizures. The scientists specifically targeted areas of the brain that are involved in memory consolidation when one is sleeping.
Anna Schapiro, an assistant psychology professor from the University of Pennsylvania who did not join the study but has done similar research, explains that there is a dominant theory of memory consolidation when one sleeps. However, it has not been tested in a casual manner, USA Today reports. This novel study, published in Nature Neuroscience, aimed to test this theory in such a manner.
During the day, events are stored in the hippocampus. During sleep, these memories are consolidated and transferred to the brain's neocortex for long-term storage. The study digs deeper into this memory consolidation process.
Itzhak Fried, the study's lead author and a neurosurgeon from the University of California, Los Angeles, had some electrodes impacted into the brains of the patients with epilepsy. Their brain activity was then monitored during the deepest stage of sleep, when memories are thought to be stored and consolidated.
Due to how the brain releases waves with varied frequencies during this period, Fried chose to stimulate relevant regions in a fashion that is synchronized. During this stimulation, participants do not feel anything.
Prior to sleeping, the volunteers were shown picture pairs of famous animals and celebrities. When the same images were shown to them the following morning, those who were recipients of the synchronized signals had better memories of the images that they saw the night before and of images they had not seen before.
Fried explains that the brain replays these events during sleep. However, the way it does so is not the same as how it proceeds during the day.
ALSO READ: Short-term Memory Illusions: Study Suggests Human Memory May Be Unreliable After Just a Few Seconds
Sleep Matters
Fried explains that sleep deprivation makes brain cells fire slower. This could be why daytime function plummets when one lacks sleep.
He also adds that people dealing with illnesses related to memory, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, tend to have sleep disruptions. This then creates a vicious cycle that worsens the condition.
He hopes that by gaining a deeper understanding of the link between memory and sleep, scientists could help individuals dealing with memory disorders. Such an analogy was drawn from the effects of stimulation and a hearing aid. This suggests that the amplification of memory could work in a similar fashion. Such an approach could be utilized for the identification and modification of traumatic memories.
RELATED ARTICLE: How Reliable Is Short-term Memory? Humans Can Generate False Memories Just Seconds After the Event Happens
Check out more news and information on Sleep in Science Times.
