Age-related differences in sleep-based memory consolidation: A meta-analysis.
A period of post-learning sleep benefits memory consolidation compared with an equal-length wake interval. However, whether this sleep-based memory consolidation changes as a function of age remains controversial. Here we report a meta-analysis that investigates the age differences in the sleep-based memory consolidation in two types of memory: declarative memory and procedural memory. The meta-analysis included 22 comparisons of the performance between young adults (N =640) and older adults (N =529) on behavioral tasks measuring sleep-based memory consolidation. Our results showed a significant overall sleep-based beneficial effect in young adults but not in older adults. However, further analyses suggested that the age differences were mainly manifested in sleep-based declarative memory consolidation but not in procedural memory consolidation. We discussed the possible underlying mechanisms for the age-related degradation in sleep-based memory consolidation. Further research is needed to determine the crucial components for sleep-related memory consolidation in older adults such as age-related changes in neurobiological and cardiovascular functions, which may play an important role in this context and have the potential to delineate the interrelationships between age-related changes in sleep and memory.
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Wen-Jun
WJ
Gui
Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Hui-Jie
HJ
Li
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge CB2 7EF, United Kingdom; University of Cambridge, The Old Schools, Cambridge CB2 1TN, United Kingdom.
Yu-Hua
YH
Guo
Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE 68583, USA.
Peng
P
Peng
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Xu
X
Lei
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: helen12@swu.edu.cn.
Jing
J
Yu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D000069077:Memory Consolidation / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Aging; Declarative memory; Meta-analysis; Procedural memory; Sleep-based memory consolidation