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