Walker, Chapter 6 (106-132)

sleep helps with memory

sleep before learning refreshes our ability to initially make new memories

• hippocampus stores fact-based knowledge and has a limited storage capacity

• sleep restores the brain’s capacity for learning by making room for new memories

  • stage 2 nrem sleep

  • sleep spindles: short, powerful bursts of electrical activity

    • the more obtained during the nap, the greater the restoration of their learning

  • shifts fact-based memories from hippocampus to the long-term storage in the cortex

  • people 60-80 yrs old generate less sleep spindles, which reduces their learning capacity

  • concentration of nrem sleep spindles is greatest in the late morning hours, sandwiched between long periods of rem sleep

sleep the night after learning

• consolidation: protecting newly acquired info from forgetting, aided by sleep

• early-night sleep (deep nrem) provides superior memory retention savings

• can also help regain access to memories

boosting the memory benefits of sleep

• sleep stimulation: inserting small amounts of electrical voltage. useful during nrem sleep

• targeted memory reactivation using sound cues

• auditory stimulation in stride with individual slow waves

• slow rocking increases depth of deep sleep

sleep to forget

• sleep helps retain everything you need and nothing you don’t

• actively avoids strengthening memories made to be forgotten

• uses nrem sleep and sleep spindles

  • activity circles between hippocampus (memory storage site) and frontal lobe (intentionality)

sleep for other types of memory

• brain will continue to improve skill memories in the absence of any further practice

• skill actions become institutional habits

  • sleep helped the brain automate movement routines

  • stage 2 nrem in last 2 hrs of an 8 hr sleep

    • increase in spindles above motor cortex

sleep for creativity