Does abnormal non-rapid eye movement sleep impair declarative memory consolidation? Disturbed thalamic functions in sleep and memory processing

a Yeshiva University: Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Rousso Building, 1165 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, United Statesb Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Kiel, GermanyReceived 10 July 2010. Revised 30 July 2011. Accepted 1 August 2011. Available online 1 September 2011.View full text Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep has recently garnered support for its role in consolidating hippocampus-based declarative memories in humans. We provide a brief review of the latest research on NREM sleep activity and its association with declarative memory consolidation. Utilizing empirical findings from sleep studies on schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and fibromyalgia, we argue that a significant reduction of slow-wave sleep and sleep spindle activity contribute to the development of deficits in declarative memory consolidation along with concomitant sleep disturbances commonly experienced in the aforementioned disorders. A tentative model is introduced to describe the mediating role of the thalamocortical network in disruptions of both declarative memory consolidation and NREM sleep. The hope is to stimulate new research in further investigating the intimate link between these two very important functions.

prs.rt("abs_end");NREM sleep; Sleep spindles; Slow-wave sleep; Declarative memory consolidation; Hippocampus; Thalamocortical network; Schizophrenia; Alzheimer’s disease; Fibromyalgia syndrome

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Fig. 1. During NREM sleep, abnormal thalamocortical structures may be unable to generate sufficient slow oscillations to drive the reactivation of hippocampal memory traces. These same structures may also be unable to facilitate normal spindle activity, preventing efficient declarative memory consolidation due to an absence in cortical plastic changes. Decreases in spindle activity lead to failure in inhibiting sensory information from reaching the neocortex. Thus, the individual is awakened and kept awake by sensory information, consequently experiencing disturbed NREM sleep.

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