D-029
The Role of Sleep in Memory Consolidation and Integration of New Words
Julia Adba1, Laura Kaczer2, Cecilia Forcato3
  1. Laboratorio de Sueño y Memoria, Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA)
  2. Laboratorio de Lenguaje y Cognición, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA).
Presenting Author:
Julia Adba
julia.adba@gmail.com
Sleep plays a key role in the formation and modification of memories, enabling the reprocessing and integration of new information. Human sleep alternates between non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which includes light (N1 and N2) and slow-wave sleep (N3), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, characterized by desynchronized cortical activity. These stages are proposed to serve complementary functions: NREM may support stabilization of memory traces, while REM integration of new information into existing knowledge networks. To test this, participants (N = 30, 18–40 years) learned a new word-learning task (rare Spanish words associated with both an image and a definition) before either taking a 90-min nap under polysomnographic monitoring (nap group) or remaining awake (control group). Afterward, participants were tested for word-image and word-definition associations, as well as for the integration of the new words. In this poster, we will discuss preliminary findings and their relation to the time spent in different sleep stages, focusing on correlations between NREM and REM sleep with processes of memory consolidation and integration.