title: Is sleep-related verbal memory consolidation impaired in sleepwalkers?
abstract: In order to evaluate verbal memory consolidation during sleep in subjects experiencing sleepwalking or sleep terror, 19 patients experiencing sleepwalking/sleep terror and 19 controls performed two verbal memory tasks (16-word list from the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test, and a 220- and 263-word modified story recall test) in the evening, followed by nocturnal video polysomnography (n = 29) and morning recall (night-time consolidation after 14 h, n = 38). The following morning, they were given a daytime learning task using the modified story recall test in reverse order, followed by an evening recall test after 9 h of wakefulness (daytime consolidation, n = 38). The patients experiencing sleepwalking/sleep terror exhibited more frequent awakenings during slow-wave sleep and longer wakefulness after sleep onset than the controls. Despite this reduction in sleep quality among sleepwalking/sleep terror patients, they improved their scores on the verbal tests the morning after sleep compared with the previous evening (+16 ± 33%) equally well as the controls (+2 ± 13%). The performance of both groups worsened during the daytime in the absence of sleep (-16 ± 15% for the sleepwalking/sleep terror group and -14 ± 11% for the control group). There was no significant correlation between the rate of memory consolidation and any of the sleep measures. Seven patients experiencing sleepwalking also sleep-talked during slow-wave sleep, but their sentences were unrelated to the tests or the list of words learned during the evening. In conclusion, the alteration of slow-wave sleep during sleepwalking/sleep terror does not noticeably impact on sleep-related verbal memory consolidation.
authors.affiliation: Sleep Disorder Unit, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, APHP, Paris, France; Brain Research Institute (CRICM-UPMC-Paris6; Inserm UMR_S 975; CNRS UMR 7225), Paris, France; Sorbonne Universites, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Ginevra
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Uguccioni
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pallanca
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Golmard
authors.forename: Smaranda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leu-Semenescu
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arnulf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D020184:Night Terrors / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D017286:Polysomnography; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013009:Somnambulism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology
keywords: arousal; declarative memory; parasomnia; sleep terror; sleepwalking; slow-wave sleep