Sleep Essay Question Flashcards
(16 cards)
Citation for the first study looking at sleep and memory (rats)
(Wilson & Mcnaughton, 1994)
Findings from Wilson & Mcnaughtons study on rats
-Involved rats perfuming spatial tasks (maze)
-Identified that place cells in hippocampus that fired together at certain points in the maze, fired together in slow wave sleep.
-First evidence of consolidation occurring during sleep, slow wave sleep
Critique of Wilson & Mcnaughton’s study
-Despite having strong spatial task relevance, it’s tested on rats, so its not directly applicable to humans
Stages of memory formation
- Sensory Store
- Short term store
- Long term store
Encoding 1 -> 2
Consolidation 2 -> 3
Encoding
Coverting sensory info into a form that can be stored in the brain
Consolidation
-Memories are strengthened by neural pathways
-In sleep, thought to involve transfer between neural systems: medial temporal lobe to neocortex
-Mechanism: Hippocampal reactivation during sleep
Who did hippocampal reactivation study in humans (odour)
(Rasch et al, 2007)
Method + Findings of Rasch et al, 2007
-Used reactivation cues to cue new memories
-Participants learn spatial locations of objects, whilst smelling rose odour
-Odour reintroduced during REM, SWS, during waking
-Found that SWS + Odour = best retrieval of memory
Critique of Rasch et al’s study
-Strong causal inference, but smell is a unique and strong sensory cue, and may not generalise for all learning.
Who did hippocampal reactivation study in humans (words)
(Schreiner and Rasch, 2015)
Method + Finding of Shreiner and Rasch Study
-Had German speakers learn dutch words
-Played dutch words to people sleeping, some slept without, and some were played cues while awake.
-Found that cued words during slow wave sleep were better remembered, as well as this, those who heard the cues but were awake did not remember any better, suggesting that cueing needs to occur during sleep to be effective.
Critique of Schreiner and Rasch Study
Human EEG monitored study, so ecologically valid, shows specifity of slow wave sleep, but questions remain about long term effects
Declarative Memory
Episodic: What did I have for breakfast
Semantic: What does the word circadian mean
Non-Declarative (Procedural Memory)
How to ride a bike
-Perceptual Priming
-Classical Conditions
Who did the study on different types of memory on different types of sleep
(Plihal & Born, 1997)
Method + Findings of Plihal & Born study
-Declarative memory task: Paired associate learning
-Procedural memory task: Mirror tracing
-Study uses knowledge that early sleep is SWS-rich and late sleep is REM-rich, There were 4 groups, early/late retention interval, and sleep/wake in both.
-Found that for early retention interval, sleep benefits declarative but not procedural memory.
-For late retention interval, sleep benefits procedural but not declarative memory
-Conclusion that when in short wave sleep, declarative memory is consolidated, and when in rapid eye movement, procedural memory is consolidated
