Causal role of rapid-eye-movement sleep on successful memory consolidation of fear extinction

Complementary roles of slow-wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep in emotional memory consolidation.

Although rapid eye movement sleep (REM) is regularly implicated in emotional memory consolidation, the role of slow-wave sleep (SWS) in this process is largely uncharacterized. In the present study, we investigated the relative impacts of nocturnal SWS and REM upon the consolidation of emotional memories using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and polysomnography (PSG). Participants ...

Title : Complementary roles of slow - wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep in emotional memory consolidation

Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

• Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was first identified by its most obvious feature: rapid eye movements occurring during sleep. In most adult mammals the electroencephalogram (EEG) of the neocortex is low in voltage during REM sleep. The hippocampus exhibits regular high-voltage theta waves throughout REM sleep. • The key brain structure for generating REM sleep is the brainstem, particularly th...

Sleep-Dependent Oscillatory Synchronization: A Role in Fear Memory Consolidation

Sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation through the facilitation of neuronal plasticity; however, how sleep accomplishes this remains to be completely understood. It has previously been demonstrated that neural oscillations are an intrinsic mechanism by which the brain precisely controls neural ensembles. Inter-regional synchronization of these oscillations is also known to facili...

Sleep supports cued fear extinction memory consolidation independent of circadian phase.

Sleep promotes memory, particularly for declarative learning. However, its role in non-declarative, emotional memories is less well understood. Some studies suggest that sleep may influence fear-related memories, and thus may be an important factor determining the outcome of treatments for emotional disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Here, we investigated the effect of sleep depr...