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33 - The role of REM sleep in memory consolidation, enhancement, and integration

from Section V - Functional significance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2011

By
Robert Stickgold
Edited by
Birendra N. Mallick ,
S. R. Pandi-Perumal ,
Robert W. McCarley  and
Adrian R. Morrison
Robert Stickgold
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Birendra N. Mallick
Affiliation:
Jawaharlal Nehru University
S. R. Pandi-Perumal
Affiliation:
Somnogen Canada Inc, Toronto
Robert W. McCarley
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
Adrian R. Morrison
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Summary

Summary

The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in our understanding of the role of sleep in off-line memory reprocessing, with published articles on sleep and memory increasing more than five-fold from the 1990s to 2008. While there is now clear evidence that sleep can enhance performance on previously learned tasks, several key questions remain unanswered. Chief among these are (1) the types of learning and memory that are enhanced; (2) the nature of the enhancement; (3) the differential roles of the various sleep stages; and (4) the cellular, molecular, and neurophysiological processes that mediate this enhancement. In this chapter, we review our current state of knowledge in regard to each of these questions, and then focus on the specific role of REM sleep.

Type
Chapter
Information
Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
Regulation and Function
 , pp. 328 - 338
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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