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Neurobiology of Memory and Sleep

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Sleep Neurology

Abstract

There are three major sub-processes in memory production – encoding, consolidation, and retrieval. While encoding and retrieval occur frequently during wakefulness, sleep likely plays a major role in consolidation, the process by which newly acquired (and generally labile) memories encoded during wakefulness are reprocessed and converted into a more stable form and then integrated into preexisting memory networks (long-term storage). This process depends on two types of consolidation mechanisms; the first is referred to as “synaptic consolidation” which leads to remodeling and more effective synapses, and the second is “system consolidation,” which redistributes newly encoded representations to other neuronal circuitries for long-term storage. Long-term memory is divided into two main types: declarative and non-declarative. Declarative memories require the involvement of medial temporal regions, specifically the hippocampus, with episodic memories rooted in temporal regions. Non-declarative memories, such as perceptual skills, originate from sensory cortices and procedural memories from the cerebellum, striatum, and motor areas. Slow wave sleep, sleep spindles, and REM sleep appear to be the three main neurophysiological counterparts of the memory consolidation processes taking place during sleep.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, Paterson, NJ, USA

    Michael Blechner

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  1. Michael Blechner
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sleep Disorders Center, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Lourdes M. DelRosso

  2. Sleep Research Centre, Oasi Maria SS, TROINA, Enna, Italy

    Raffaele Ferri

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Blechner, M. (2021). Neurobiology of Memory and Sleep. In: DelRosso, L.M., Ferri, R. (eds) Sleep Neurology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54359-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54359-4_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-54358-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-54359-4

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