Memory consolidation in sleep; dream or reality - PubMed (original) (raw)
Review
. 2004 Sep 30;44(1):135-48.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.08.034.
Affiliations
- PMID: 15450166
- DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.08.034
Free article
Review
Memory consolidation in sleep; dream or reality
Robert P Vertes. Neuron. 2004.
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Abstract
We discuss several lines of evidence refuting the hypothesis that procedural or declarative memories are processed/consolidated in sleep. One of the strongest arguments against a role for sleep in declarative memory involves the demonstration that the marked suppression or elimination of REM sleep in subjects on antidepressant drugs or with brainstem lesions produces no detrimental effects on cognition. Procedural memory, like declarative memory, undergoes a slow, time-dependent period of consolidation. A process has recently been described wherein performance on some procedural tasks improves with the mere passage of time and has been termed "enhancement." Some studies, but not others, have reported that the consolidation/enhancement of perceptual and motor skills is dependent on sleep. We suggest that consolidation or enhancement, initiated in waking with task acquisition, could in some instances extend to sleep, but sleep would serve no unique role in these processes. In sum, there is no compelling evidence to support a relationship between sleep and memory consolidation.
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