Using a neural network model, neuroscientists discovered that as the body moves between REM and slow-wave sleep cycles, the hippocampus and neocortex interact in ways that are key to memory formation. What role do the stages of sleep play in the formation of memories? “We’ve known for a long time
, they show that as the brain cycles through slow-wave and rapid-eye-movement sleep, which happens about five times a night, the hippocampus teaches the neocortex what it learned, transforming novel, fleeting information into enduring memory.
Broadly, Schapiro studies learning and memory in humans, specifically how people acquire and consolidate new information. She’s long thought that sleep played a part here, something she and her team have been testing in a lab, recording what happens in the brain as participants sleep. “As the two brain regions connect during non-REM sleep, that’s when the hippocampus is actually teaching the neocortex,” says Singh, a second-year doctoral student in Schapiro’s lab. “Then, during the REM phase, the neocortex reactivates and can replay what it already knows,” solidifying the data’s hold in long-term memory.
Because the current simulations were based on a typical adult getting a healthy night of sleep, they don’t necessarily transfer to other types of adults or less-than-stellar sleep habits. They also don’t offer insight into what’s happening with children, who require different amounts and types of shut-eye than adults.
Reference: “A model of autonomous interactions between hippocampus and neocortex driving sleep-dependent memory consolidation” by Dhairyya Singh, Kenneth A. Norman and Anna C. Schapiro, 24 October 2022,Funding for this research came from the National Institutes of Health and Charles E. Kaufman Foundation .
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