Using two commonly prescribed sleep aids — zolpidem and sodium oxybate (Xyrem)-- Mednick, Kaestner and Wixted were able to tease apart the effects
of sleep spindles and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep on the recall of emotional memories.
The findings add to evidence for an important information - processing role
of sleep spindles in the service of memory consolidation, the researchers say.
Staresina along with Scott Cairney at the University of York, UK, suspected that experimental reactivation of memories might lead to a surge
of sleep spindles in a sleeping person's brain.
«Thus, direct induction
of sleep spindles — for example, via transcranial electrical stimulation — perhaps combined with targeted memory reactivation, may enable us to further improve memory performance while we sleep.»
Not exact matches
The research release explains that «
sleep spindles,» a particular kind
of brain activity that occurs in
sleep, may help us tag and then recall important information.
Sleepers who tolerated louder sounds before waking showed a higher frequency
of «
sleep spindles» — short bursts
of activity
of specific wavelength — during non-REM
sleep than those who woke more easily.
While these brain rhythms, occurring hundreds
of times a night, move in perfect lockstep in young adults, findings published in the journal Neuron show that, in old age, slow waves during non-rapid eye movement (NREM)
sleep fail to make timely contact with speedy electrical bursts known as «
spindles.»
As a memory is being consolidated, Muller and Sejnowski hypothesize, circular
sleep spindle waves help form the links between these different aspects
of a single memory.
Previous research has shown that when people
sleep, the thalamus — a brain structure that connects the high - level thought areas with the sights and sounds
of the outside world — produces brief, high - frequency brain waves called
spindles.
Sleep spindles are half - second to two - second bursts
of brain activity, measured in the 10 - 16 Hertz range on an EEG.
«Our data suggest that
spindles facilitate processing
of relevant memory features during
sleep and that this process boosts memory consolidation,» Staresina says.
The study — «Pharmacologically Increasing
Sleep Spindles Enhances Recognition for Negative and High - arousal Memories» — appears in the Journal
of Cognitive Neuroscience.
The
spindles seem to indicate when the thalamus is blocking noise from reaching the cortex and disrupting
sleep, the team reports in the 10 August issue
of Current Biology.
During slow - wave
sleep, groups
of neurons firing at the same time generate brain waves with triple rhythms: slow oscillations,
spindles, and ripples.
Sleep endophenotypes of schizophrenia: slow waves and sleep spindles in unaffected first - degree rela
Sleep endophenotypes
of schizophrenia: slow waves and
sleep spindles in unaffected first - degree rela
sleep spindles in unaffected first - degree relatives
Stage 2 lasts slightly longer, around 20 minutes, and is marked by rapid bursts
of rhythmic brain activity known as
sleep spindles.
Ideal for a nursery for rocking a baby to
sleep, or a soothing addition to a bedroom or living room, this lovely rocking chair with its elegantly turned
spindle legs and arm supports will bring a touch
of traditional country charm to your home.