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The Effects of Direct Context Reactivation During Sleep on Memory

NCT04702152 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 38

Last updated 2022-01-12

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The context in which memories are encoded is a major factor influencing how memories are organized. Individual memories are bound to the context (e.g., the location, time and state of mind in which they are encoded) and this context is later reinstated to recall the details related to the memory. Although the role of context has been explored with regard to memory encoding and retrieval, its role during sleep-related memory consolidation has not been explored. Memories are thought to be reactivated during sleep, subsequently benefitting from the process. This study will use encephalography (EEG) in humans to consider several competing hypotheses regarding context's role in sleep reactivation, thereby enhancing the current understanding of how reactivation of memory over sleep relates to models of context and memory. Participants will learn to associate pictures of scenes to different sounds and to smaller images of items and animals, and then learn the spatial locations of these smaller images on a grid. Crucially, for half of these scenes, the sounds themselves will then also be linked directly to some of images during training. The associated sounds will then be unobtrusively presented during sleep, in a manner that has been shown to improve associated memories. The subsequent memory benefits will reveal whether (1) all images associated with the cued scene will benefit from cuing, demonstrating a context-reactivation effect; (2) only the images directly associated with presented sound will benefit from the cuing, demonstrating a item-reactivation effect; or (3) some composite of these two models. Regardless of which hypothesis is correct, the results will expand our current understanding regarding the role context plays in sleep consolidation.

Conditions

  • Sleep
  • Consolidation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Targeted memory reactivation (sounds)

I will unobtrusively and repeatedly present learning-related sounds during sleep using speakers. This method was shown to improve memory in various tasks. The sounds will be presented several seconds apart and the volume will be so adjusted as not to disturb the participant's sleep. The sounds will be presented during non-rapid eye movement sleep (sleep stage 2 and slow wave sleep). The sounds presented will be non-congruently related to the scenes in the previous learning task. This manipulation is within-subject - all participants will get it, but different specific sounds will be presented for each individual participant.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
35 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-09-15
Primary Completion
2021-11-30
Completion
2021-11-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04702152 on ClinicalTrials.gov