Declarative memory: sleep protects new memories from interference.
Interference is one of the most fundamental phenomena in memory research: acquiring new memories causes forgetting of other, related memories. A new study shows that sleep, interposed between learning episodes, can mitigate the extent to which new (post-sleep) learning interferes with recall of previously acquired knowledge.
Norman
Kenneth A
KA
Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Green Hall, Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA. knorman@princeton.edu
D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*