Human REM sleep recalibrates neural activity in support of memory formation
Janna D. Lendner et al. · Aug 25, 2023
The researchers found that non-oscillatory brain activity during human REM sleep helps recalibrate neural networks to support overnight memory consolidation.
In short
The authors combined brain recordings from rodents and humans to observe how different sleep stages change neural activity patterns overnight. They found that non-rhythmic brain activity during REM sleep specifically adjusts these patterns in a way that predicts whether memories are strengthened or lost. This matters because it identifies a specific, non-oscillatory mechanism by which human REM sleep actively supports long-term memory formation.
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- Field
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Authors
- Janna D. Lendner, Niels Niethard, Bryce A. Mander, Frank J. van Schalkwijk, Sigrid Schuh‐Hofer, Hannah Schmidt, Robert Thomas Knight, Jan Born, Matthew P. Walker, Jack J. Lin, Randolph F. Helfrich
- Published
- Aug 25, 2023
- Cited by
- 79 papers
- Theme
- Optimized memory
- In the glossary
- Optimized memory
- Kept since
- Oct 4, 2026
- How I rank it
- 3 of 5
- Found by
- The discovery feed