title: The effect of sleep on item recognition and source memory recollection among shift-workers and permanent day-workers.
abstract: We studied the effect of sleep versus wakefulness on item recognition and source memory recollection in a sample of shift-workers and permanent day-workers. Recognition of words that were previously viewed arrayed in quadrants of a page, and recollection of the original source location of the words on the page were assessed after a 12-h retention interval that was filled with wakefulness incorporating the subjects' work-shift, or an equal period that included sleep. Both shift-workers and permanent day-workers had poorer item recognition and source memory recollection when the retention interval was spent awake rather than including sleep. Shift-workers expressed larger deficits in performance than day-workers after wakefulness. This effect was not mediated by whether the shift-workers were on a day- or night-shift at the time of the study. These results indicate that sleep is an important contributor to successful item recognition and source recollection, and that mnemonic processing in shift-workers may be especially sensitive across their work-shift.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Psychology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mawdsley
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grasby
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Talk
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: explicit memory; familiarity; implicit memory; recall; shift-work