Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and reconsolidation

Sleep Medicine
Volume 8, Issue 4, June 2007, Pages 331-343
Advances in Sleep Medicine

Copyright © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and reconsolidation

Robert Stickgolda, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author and Matthew P. Walkera, b

aCenter for Sleep and Cognition, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center E/FD 861, 330 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215, USA

bSleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center E/FD 862, 330 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215, USA

Received 6 March 2007;
accepted 6 March 2007.
Available online 30 April 2007.

Abstract

Molecular, cellular, and systems-level processes convert initial, labile memory representations into more permanent ones, available for continued reactivation and recall over extended periods of time. These processes of memory consolidation and reconsolidation are not all-or-none phenomena, but rather a continuing series of biological adjustments that enhance both the efficiency and utility of stored memories over time. In this chapter, we review the role of sleep in supporting these disparate but related processes.

Keywords: Sleep; Memory; Learning; Consolidation; Reconsolidation; REM; Slow-wave sleep; Visual discrimination; Motor sequence learning
Article Outline

1. Introduction
2. Stages of memory consolidation and reconsolidation
3. Sleep-dependent memory consolidation
4. Sleep and brain plasticity

4.1. Neuroimaging studies
4.2. Electrophysiological studies
4.3. Cellular studies
4.4. Molecular studies

5. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References

Corresponding Author Contact InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 617 667 8485; fax: +1 617 667 8498.