Use of targeted memory reactivation enhances skill performance during a nap and enhances declarative memory during wake in healthy young adults.

Use of targeted memory reactivation enhances skill performance during a nap and enhances declarative memory during wake in healthy young adults. J Sleep Res. 2019 Feb 11;: Authors: Johnson BP, Scharf SM, Verceles AC, Westlake KP Abstract Sleep is an important component of motor memory consolidation and learning, providing a critical tool to enhance training and rehabilitation. Following initial skill acquisition, memory consolidation is largely a result of non-rapid eye movement sleep over either a full night or a nap. Targeted memory reactivation is one method used to enhance this critical process, which involves the pairing of an external cue with task performance at the time of initial motor skill acquisition, followed by replay of the same cue during sleep. Application of targeted memory reactivation during sleep leads to increased functional connectivity within task-related brain networks and improved behavioural performance in healthy young adults. We have previously used targeted memory reactivation throughout the first two slow-wave sleep cycles of a full night of sleep to enhance non-dominant arm throwing accuracy in healthy young adults. Here, we aimed to determine whether application of targeted memory reactivation throughout a 1-hr daytime nap was sufficient to enhance performance on the same non-dominant arm throwing task in healthy young adults. Participants were allocated to either nap or no nap, and within those group...
Source: Journal of Sleep Research - Category: Sleep Medicine Authors: Tags: J Sleep Res Source Type: research