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Lutz, N.D.* ; Martínez-Albert, E.* ; Friedrich, H.* ; Born, J. ; Besedovsky, L.*

Sleep shapes the associative structure underlying pattern completion in multielement event memory.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121, 9:e2314423121 (2024)
DOI PMC
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Sleep supports the consolidation of episodic memory. It is, however, a matter of ongoing debate how this effect is established, because, so far, it has been demonstrated almost exclusively for simple associations, which lack the complex associative structure of real-life events, typically comprising multiple elements with different association strengths. Because of this associative structure interlinking the individual elements, a partial cue (e.g., a single element) can recover an entire multielement event. This process, referred to as pattern completion, is a fundamental property of episodic memory. Yet, it is currently unknown how sleep affects the associative structure within multielement events and subsequent processes of pattern completion. Here, we investigated the effects of post-encoding sleep, compared with a period of nocturnal wakefulness (followed by a recovery night), on multielement associative structures in healthy humans using a verbal associative learning task including strongly, weakly, and not directly encoded associations. We demonstrate that sleep selectively benefits memory for weakly associated elements as well as for associations that were not directly encoded but not for strongly associated elements within a multielement event structure. Crucially, these effects were accompanied by a beneficial effect of sleep on the ability to recall multiple elements of an event based on a single common cue. In addition, retrieval performance was predicted by sleep spindle activity during post-encoding sleep. Together, these results indicate that sleep plays a fundamental role in shaping associative structures, thereby supporting pattern completion in complex multielement events.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Consolidation ; Episodic Memory ; Pattern Completion ; Retrieval ; Sleep; Separation; Reactivation; Consolidation; Hippocampal; Software; Promotes; Benefits; Time
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0027-8424
e-ISSN 1091-6490
Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Quellenangaben Volume: 121, Issue: 9, Pages: 9, Article Number: e2314423121 Supplement: ,
Publisher National Academy of Sciences
Publishing Place 2101 Constitution Ave Nw, Washington, Dc 20418 Usa
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM)
Grants Fortune program of the University of Tuebingen