Involvement of spindles in memory consolidation is slow wave sleep-specific.
Both sleep spindles and slow oscillations have been implicated in sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Whereas spindles occur during both light and deep sleep, slow oscillations are restricted to deep sleep, raising the possibility of greater consolidation-related spindle involvement during deep sleep. We assessed declarative memory retention over an interval containing a nap and determined spindle density for light and deep sleep separately. In deep sleep, spindle density was considerably higher and showed a strong and robust positive correlation with retention. This relation was absent for light sleep, suggesting that the potentiating effects of spindles are tied to their co-occurrence with slow oscillations.
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Weesperplein 4, 1018 XA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. r.cox@uva.nl
Roy
R
Cox
Winni F
WF
Hofman
Lucia M
LM
Talamini
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017286:Polysomnography; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012892:Sleep Deprivation; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult