Optimizing Methodology of Sleep and Memory Research in Humans

Dezso Nemeth (1, 2, 3) , Emilie Gerbier (4) , Jan Born (5) , Timothy Rickard (6) , Susanne Diekelman (5) , Stuart Fogel (7) , Lisa Genzel (8) , Alexander Prehn-Kristensen (9) , Jessica Payne (10) , Martin Dresler (11) , Peter Simor (12, 2) , Stephanie Mazza (13) , Kerstin Hoedlmoser (14) , Perrine Ruby (1) , Rebecca Spencer (15) , Genevieve Albouy (16) , Teodóra Vékony (1) , Manuel Schabus (14) , Karolina Janacsek (17)

1 CRNL - Centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon - Lyon Neuroscience Research Center
2 ELTE - Eötvös Loránd University
3 KPI - Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology
4 AAA - BCL, équipe Acquisition, Apprentissage et Adaptation
5 University of Tübingen
6 UC San Diego - University of California [San Diego]
7 University of Ottawa [Ottawa]
8 Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
9 University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein [Kiel, Germany]
10 UND - University of Notre Dame [Indiana]
11 Radboud University Medical Center [Nijmegen]
12 Semmelweis University [Budapest]
13 RESHAPE - Inserm U1290 - UCBL1 - Research on Healthcare Performance
14 University of Salzburg
15 UMass Amherst - University of Massachusetts [Amherst]
16 KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
17 University of Greenwich

Understanding the complex relationship between sleep and memory is a major challenge in neuroscience. Many studies on memory consolidation in humans suggest that sleep triggers offline memory processes, resulting in less forgetting of declarative memory and performance stabilization in non-declarative memory. However, issues related to non-optimal experimental designs, task characteristics and measurements, and inappropriate data analysis practices can significantly affect the interpretation of the effect of sleep on memory. In this article, we discuss these issues and suggest constructive solutions to address them. We believe that implementing these solutions in future sleep and memory research will significantly advance this field by improving the understanding of the specific role of sleep in memory consolidation.

Keywords: sleep; memory; consolidation; napping; fatigue

Domains: Cognitive Sciences

Dezso Nemeth, Emilie Gerbier, Jan Born, Timothy Rickard, Susanne Diekelman, et al.. Optimizing Methodology of Sleep and Memory Research in Humans. 2023. ⟨hal-04187452⟩