Isolated S sleep as a source of learning deficits induced by D sleep deprivation

Isolated S Sleep as a Source of Learning Deficits Induced by D Sleep Deprivation February 1978 Bruce E. Hideout, A. B. , Boston University M.S., Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Directed by » Neil R. Carlson, Ph. D. Many studies have examined the results of selectively depriving organisms of desynchronized sleep (D sleep, REM sleep). These studies in general have led to the conclusion that learning deficits induced by D sleep deprivation are due to the removal of some positive influence (of D sleep) on memory consolidation. While this is perhaps the simplest conclusion, it has not been differentiated from an alternative hypothesis that such learning deficits result from periods of slow wave sleep (S sleep, synchronized sleep, non-REM sleep) that are isolated from the D sleep that normally follows. Previously, it has not been considered that S sleep may have a deleterious influence on information processing, this influence being counteracted normally by tl^e recurrent D sleep periods. Thus, this alternative hypothesis is a refinement of the earlier D-deprivation hypothesis. This refinement must be considered if the precise origin of D-deprivation learning deficits and the functions of the sleep stages are to be understood. The experiments described here were designed to investigate