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

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lutz, Nicolas D.; Martinez- Albert, Estefania; Friedrich, Hannah; Born, Jan; Besedovsky, Luciana
• 署名单位: Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen; Eberhard Karls University Hospital; University of Munich; Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen; Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD); Helmholtz Association; Helmholtz-Center Munich - German Research Center for Environmental Health
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13288
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2314423121
• 发表日期: 2024-02-27
• 关键词: separation; reactivation; consolidation; hippocampal; software; promotes; benefits; time

摘要

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.