Competitive dynamics underlie cognitive improvements during sleep
Abstract
Sleep facilitates both long-term episodic memory consolidation and short-term working memory functioning. However, the mechanism by which the sleeping brain performs both complex feats and which sleep features are associated with these processes remain unclear. Using a pharmacological approach, we demonstrate that long-term and working memory are served by distinct offline neural mechanisms and that these mechanisms are mutually antagonistic. We propose a sleep switch model in which the brain toggles between the two memory processes via a complex interaction at the synaptic, systems, and mechanistic level with implications for research on cognitive disturbances observed in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's disease, both of which involve the decline of sleep.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.2109339118
Entities
People
- Hamid Niknazar
- Lauren N. Whitehurst
- Pin-chun Chen
- Sara Mednick
- William A. Alaynick
Organizations
- National Institutes of Health
- Office of Naval Research Global
- University of California
- University of Kentucky