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Cabrera Y, Koymans KJ, Poe GR, Kessels HW, Van Someren EJW, Wassing R. Overnight neuronal plasticity and adaptation to emotional distress. Nat Rev Neurosci 2024; 25:253-271. [PMID: 38443627 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-024-00799-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Expressions such as 'sleep on it' refer to the resolution of distressing experiences across a night of sound sleep. Sleep is an active state during which the brain reorganizes the synaptic connections that form memories. This Perspective proposes a model of how sleep modifies emotional memory traces. Sleep-dependent reorganization occurs through neurophysiological events in neurochemical contexts that determine the fates of synapses to grow, to survive or to be pruned. We discuss how low levels of acetylcholine during non-rapid eye movement sleep and low levels of noradrenaline during rapid eye movement sleep provide a unique window of opportunity for plasticity in neuronal representations of emotional memories that resolves the associated distress. We integrate sleep-facilitated adaptation over three levels: experience and behaviour, neuronal circuits, and synaptic events. The model generates testable hypotheses for how failed sleep-dependent adaptation to emotional distress is key to mental disorders, notably disorders of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress with the common aetiology of insomnia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yesenia Cabrera
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Karin J Koymans
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Gina R Poe
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Helmut W Kessels
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Synaptic Plasticity and Behaviour, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, An Institute of the Royal Netherlands Society for Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Eus J W Van Someren
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, An Institute of the Royal Netherlands Society for Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology and Psychiatry, VU University, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, VU University, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Rick Wassing
- Sleep and Circadian Research, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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2
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Nestadt AE, Kantor K, Thomas KGF, Lipinska G. A South African adaptation of the international affective picture system: The influence of socioeconomic status and education level on picture ratings. Behav Res Methods 2023; 55:3855-3871. [PMID: 36289178 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-01994-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) is used globally in emotion research. However, normative studies in diverse contexts do not consider the influence of education and socioeconomic status (SES) on picture ratings. We created the South African Affective Picture System (SA-APS) for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by replacing some original IAPS images with pictures featuring more diverse groups of people and culturally appropriate stimuli. Healthy South African adults from higher and lower education/SES backgrounds (n = 80; n = 70 respectively) provided valence and arousal ratings for 340 images from the original IAPS and 340 images from the new SA-APS. Overall, their ratings of SA-APS images were better aligned with the US normative standards than their ratings of IAPS images, particularly with regard to valence. Those with higher SES/education rated IAPS images differently from those with lower SES/education (e.g., valence ratings of the latter were similar to US normative standards, whereas those of the former were more negative). Regression modelling indicated that sex and SES significantly predicted the current sample's IAPS and SA-APS ratings (e.g., women and higher-SES participants rated high-arousal images as being significantly more arousing than men and lower-SES participants); hence, we created regression-based norms for both picture sets. These norms are especially useful in emotion research, because few studies emerge from LMICs, and few instruments account for substantial sociodemographic diversity. Extending the reach of tools such as the IAPS to LMICs can help ensure a more globally representative body of research in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashleigh E Nestadt
- ACSENT laboratory, Psychology Department, University of Cape Town, Rm 2.04 PD Hahn, Upper Campus, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa
| | - Kaylee Kantor
- ACSENT laboratory, Psychology Department, University of Cape Town, Rm 2.04 PD Hahn, Upper Campus, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa
| | - Kevin G F Thomas
- ACSENT laboratory, Psychology Department, University of Cape Town, Rm 2.04 PD Hahn, Upper Campus, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa
| | - Gosia Lipinska
- ACSENT laboratory, Psychology Department, University of Cape Town, Rm 2.04 PD Hahn, Upper Campus, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa.
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Sollenberger NA, Kimbler A, Cummings LR, Pettit JW, Hayes T, Patriarca GC, Vázquez AL, Shumway P, Yegüez CE, Rey Y, Mattfeld AT, McMakin DL. Sleep fails to depotentiate amygdala-reactivity to negative emotional stimuli in youth with elevated symptoms of anxiety. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 23:415-426. [PMID: 36788201 PMCID: PMC10770807 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01066-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Sleep-related problems often precede escalating anxiety in early adolescence. Pushing beyond broad sleep-mental health associations and toward mechanistic theories of their interplay can inform etiological models of psychopathology. Recent studies suggest that sleep depotentiates neural (e.g., amygdala) reactivity during reexposure to negative emotional stimuli in adults. Persistent amygdala reactivity to negative experiences and poor sleep characterize anxiety, particularly at the transition to adolescence. We propose that sleep depotentiates amygdala reactivity in youth but fails to do so among youth with anxiety. Participants (n = 34; 18 males; age, mean [M] = 11.35, standard deviation [SD] = 2.00) recruited from the community and specialty anxiety clinics viewed valenced images (positive, negative, and neutral) across two fMRI sessions (Study, Test), separated by a 10-12-hour retention period of sleep or wake (randomized). Mixed linear models regressed basolateral amygdala (BLA) activation and BLA-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) functional connectivity to negative images on Time, Condition, and Anxiety Severity. There were greater reductions in BLA activations to negative target images from Study to Test in the Sleep Condition, which was blunted with higher anxiety (b = -0.065, z = -2.355, p = 0.019). No such sleep- or anxiety-related effects were observed for BLA-mPFC functional connectivity (ps > 0.05). Sleep supports depotentiation of amygdala reactivity to negative stimuli in youth, but this effect is blunted at higher levels of anxiety. Disruptions in sleep-related affective habituation may be a critical, modifiable driver of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Adam Kimbler
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Logan R Cummings
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Jeremy W Pettit
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Timothy Hayes
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | | | | | - Philip Shumway
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Carlos E Yegüez
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Yasmin Rey
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Aaron T Mattfeld
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
| | - Dana L McMakin
- Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
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4
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Lipinska G, Austin H, Moonsamy JR, Henry M, Lewis R, Baldwin DS, Thomas KGF, Stuart B. Preferential consolidation of emotional reactivity during sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:976047. [PMID: 36268469 PMCID: PMC9578377 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.976047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Many studies have investigated whether sleep affects cognitively unmodulated reactivity to emotional stimuli. These studies operationalize emotion regulation by using subjective and/or objective measures to compare pre- and post-sleep reactivity to the same emotional stimuli. Findings have been inconsistent: some show that sleep attenuates emotional reactivity, whereas others report enhanced or maintained reactivity. Across-study methodological differences may account for discrepant findings. To resolve the questions of whether sleep leads to the attenuation, enhancement, or maintenance of emotional reactivity, and under which experimental conditions particular effects are observed, we undertook a synthesized narrative and meta-analytic approach. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for relevant articles, using search terms determined a priori and search limits of language = English, participants = human, and dates = January 2006–June 2021. Our final sample included 24 studies that investigated changes in emotional reactivity in response to negatively and/or positively valenced material compared to neutral material over a period of sleep compared to a matched period of waking. Primary analyses used random effects modeling to investigate whether sleep preferentially modulates reactivity in response to emotional stimuli; secondary analyses examined potential moderators of the effect. Results showed that sleep (or equivalent periods of wakefulness) did not significantly affect psychophysiological measures of reactivity to negative or neutral stimuli. However, self-reported arousal ratings of negative stimuli were significantly increased post-sleep but not post-waking. Sub-group analyses indicated that (a) sleep-deprived participants, compared to those who slept or who experienced daytime waking, reacted more strongly and negatively in response to positive stimuli; (b) nap-exposed participants, compared to those who remained awake or who slept a full night, rated negative pictures less negatively; and (c) participants who did not obtain substantial REM sleep, compared to those who did and those exposed to waking conditions, had attenuated reactivity to neutral stimuli. We conclude that sleep may affect emotional reactivity, but that studies need more consistency in methodology, commitment to collecting both psychophysiological and self-report measures, and should report REM sleep parameters. Using these methodological principles would promote a better understanding of under which conditions particular effects are observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gosia Lipinska
- UCT Sleep Sciences and Applied Cognitive Science and Experimental Neuroscience Team (ACSENT), Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- *Correspondence: Gosia Lipinska
| | - Holly Austin
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
| | - Jasmin R. Moonsamy
- UCT Sleep Sciences and Applied Cognitive Science and Experimental Neuroscience Team (ACSENT), Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Michelle Henry
- UCT Sleep Sciences and Applied Cognitive Science and Experimental Neuroscience Team (ACSENT), Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- Numeracy Centre, Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Raphaella Lewis
- UCT Sleep Sciences and Applied Cognitive Science and Experimental Neuroscience Team (ACSENT), Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - David S. Baldwin
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Kevin G. F. Thomas
- UCT Sleep Sciences and Applied Cognitive Science and Experimental Neuroscience Team (ACSENT), Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Beth Stuart
- Centre for Evaluation and Methods, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
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Ten Brink M, Dietch JR, Tutek J, Suh SA, Gross JJ, Manber R. Sleep and affect: A conceptual review. Sleep Med Rev 2022; 65:101670. [PMID: 36088755 PMCID: PMC10228665 DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2022.101670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Everyday experience suggests that sleep and affect are closely linked, with daytime affect influencing how we sleep, and sleep influencing subsequent affect. Yet empirical evidence for this bidirectional relationship between sleep and affect in non-clinical adult samples remains mixed, which may be due to heterogeneity in both construct definitions and measurement. This conceptual review proposes a granular framework that deconstructs sleep and affect findings according to three subordinate dimensions, namely domains (which are distinct for sleep and affect), methods (i.e., self-report vs. behavioral/physiological measures), and timescale (i.e., shorter vs. longer). We illustrate the value of our granular framework through a systematic review of empirical studies published in PubMed (N = 80 articles). We found that in some cases, particularly for sleep disturbances and sleep duration, our framework identified robust evidence for associations with affect that are separable by domain, method, and timescale. However, in most other cases, evidence was either inconclusive or too sparse, resulting in no clear patterns. Our review did not find support for granular bidirectionality between sleep and affect. We suggest a roadmap for future studies based on gaps identified by our review and discuss advantages and disadvantages of our granular dimensional framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maia Ten Brink
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Jessica R Dietch
- School of Psychological Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
| | - Joshua Tutek
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Sooyeon A Suh
- Department of Psychology, Sungshin University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - James J Gross
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Rachel Manber
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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6
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Reinhold FL, Gerlicher AMV, van Someren EJW, Kindt M. Do your troubles today seem further away than yesterday? On sleep's role in mitigating the blushing response to a reactivated embarrassing episode. Sleep 2022; 45:6706913. [PMID: 36130113 PMCID: PMC9644119 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsac220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The "sleep to forget and sleep to remember hypothesis" proposes that sleep weakens the emotional tone of an experience while preserving or even enhancing its content. Prior experimental research however shows contradictory findings on how emotional reactivity changes after a period of sleep, likely explained by methodological variations. By addressing these inconsistencies, we investigated the mitigating effect of overnight sleep on emotional reactivity triggered by memory reactivation. Using a karaoke paradigm, we recorded participants' singing of two songs, followed by exposing them to one of the recordings (rec1) to induce an embarrassing episode. After a 12-hr period of either day-time wakefulness (N = 20) or including nighttime sleep (N = 20), we assessed emotional reactivity to the previously exposed recording (rec1) and the newly exposed recording (rec2). Emotional reactivity was assessed with a physiological measure of facial blushing as the main outcome and subjective ratings of embarrassment and valence. Sleep and wake were monitored with diaries and actigraphy. The embarrassing episode was successfully induced as indicated by objective and subjective measures. After controlling for an order effect in stimulus presentation, we found a reduction in blushing response to the reactivated recording (rec1) from pre- to post-sleep compared to wakefulness. However, emotional reactivity to the reactivated recording (rec1) and the new recording (rec2) did not differ after sleep and wakefulness. This study shows that facial blushing was reduced following overnight sleep, while subjective ratings were unaffected. Whether the beneficial effect of sleep is due to changes in memory representation or rather emotion regulation remains elusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faya L Reinhold
- Department for Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129B, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anna M V Gerlicher
- Department for Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129B, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands,Department for Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 8, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Eus J W van Someren
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands,Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Merel Kindt
- Corresponding author. Merel Kindt and Faya Louisa Reinhold, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129B, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Cunningham TJ, Stickgold R, Kensinger EA. Investigating the effects of sleep and sleep loss on the different stages of episodic emotional memory: A narrative review and guide to the future. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:910317. [PMID: 36105652 PMCID: PMC9466000 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.910317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
For two decades, sleep has been touted as one of the primary drivers for the encoding, consolidation, retention, and retrieval of episodic emotional memory. Recently, however, sleep’s role in emotional memory processing has received renewed scrutiny as meta-analyses and reviews have indicated that sleep may only contribute a small effect that hinges on the content or context of the learning and retrieval episodes. On the one hand, the strong perception of sleep’s importance in maintaining memory for emotional events may have been exacerbated by publication bias phenomena, such as the “winner’s curse” and “file drawer problem.” On the other hand, it is plausible that there are sets of circumstances that lead to consistent and reliable effects of sleep on emotional memory; these circumstances may depend on factors such as the placement and quality of sleep relative to the emotional experience, the content and context of the emotional experience, and the probes and strategies used to assess memory at retrieval. Here, we review the literature on how sleep (and sleep loss) influences each stage of emotional episodic memory. Specifically, we have separated previous work based on the placement of sleep and sleep loss in relation to the different stages of emotional memory processing: (1) prior to encoding, (2) immediately following encoding during early consolidation, (3) during extended consolidation, separated from initial learning, (4) just prior to retrieval, and (5) post-retrieval as memories may be restructured and reconsolidated. The goals of this review are three-fold: (1) examine phases of emotional memory that sleep may influence to a greater or lesser degree, (2) explicitly identify problematic overlaps in traditional sleep–wake study designs that are preventing the ability to better disentangle the potential role of sleep in the different stages of emotional memory processing, and (3) highlight areas for future research by identifying the stages of emotional memory processing in which the effect of sleep and sleep loss remains under-investigated. Here, we begin the task of better understanding the contexts and factors that influence the relationship between sleep and emotional memory processing and aim to be a valuable resource to facilitate hypothesis generation and promote important future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tony J. Cunningham
- Center for Sleep and Cognition, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Tony J. Cunningham,
| | - Robert Stickgold
- Center for Sleep and Cognition, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Elizabeth A. Kensinger
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States
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8
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Sleep's role in updating aversive autobiographical memories. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:117. [PMID: 35332136 PMCID: PMC8948270 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01878-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Aversive autobiographical memories play a key role in the development and maintenance of many mental disorders. Imagery rescripting is a well-established psychotherapeutic intervention aiming to create a more adaptive version of an aversive memory by modifying its interpretation. Sleep has been shown to support reconsolidation of updated neutral memories. Here, we investigated in healthy participants whether a 90-min nap compared to wake supports the adaptive reconsolidation of autobiographical memories. Forty-four university students received a single 50-min imagery rescripting session. Thereafter, half of the participants took a 90-min nap, whereas the other half stayed awake. Subjective (arousal ratings, reports of emotions and dysfunctional cognitions) and heart rate (HR) responses to individual memory scripts were measured before the intervention (pre), after the 90-min retention interval (post 1) and 7 days later (post 2). Results demonstrate a significant decrease in distress of aversive memories pre to post imagery rescripting. The nap group showed less distressing dysfunctional cognitions along with a lower HR in response to the negative memory script as compared to the wake group at post 1. These differences were no longer evident 1 week later (post 2). Central sleep spindle density during the nap was correlated with the reduction in HR in response to the negative memory script from pre to post 1. Our results provide first evidence for sleep benefitting adaptive reconsolidation of aversive autobiographical memories. Future research should expand this approach to clinical populations and investigate precise conditions under which sleep may benefit psychotherapeutic interventions utilizing reconsolidation mechanisms.
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Pereira SIR, Tsimpanouli ME, Hutchison I, Schneider J, Anderson IM, McFarquhar M, Elliott R, Lewis PA. Cueing emotional memories during slow wave sleep modulates next-day activity in the orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala. Neuroimage 2022; 253:119120. [PMID: 35331867 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotional memories are preferentially consolidated during sleep, through the process of memory reactivation. Targeted memory reactivation (TMR) has been shown to boost memory consolidation during sleep, but its neural correlates remain unclear, particularly for emotional memories. Here, we aimed to examine how TMR of emotional material during slow wave sleep (SWS) impacts upon neural processing during a subsequent arousal rating task. Participants were trained on a spatial memory task including negative and neutral pictures paired with semantically matching sounds. The picture-sound pairs were rated for emotional arousal before and after the spatial memory task. Then, half of the sounds from each emotional category (negative and neutral) were cued during SWS. The next day, participants were retested on both the arousal rating and the spatial memory task inside an MRI scanner, followed by another retest session a week later. Memory consolidation and arousal processing did not differ between cued and non-cued items of either emotional category. We found increased responses to emotional stimuli in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and a cueing versus emotion interaction in the OFC, whereby cueing neutral stimuli led to an increase in OFC activity, while cueing negative stimuli led to decreased OFC activation. Interestingly, the effect of cueing on amygdala activation was modulated by time spent in REM sleep. We conclude that SWS TMR impacts OFC activity, while REM sleep plays a role in mediating the effect of such cueing on amygdala.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Isabel Hutchison
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Jules Schneider
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Cardiff, Wales, CF24 4HQ, UK; School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Ian M Anderson
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Martyn McFarquhar
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Rebecca Elliott
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Penelope A Lewis
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Cardiff, Wales, CF24 4HQ, UK; School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
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10
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Ahumada-Méndez F, Lucero B, Avenanti A, Saracini C, Muñoz-Quezada MT, Cortés-Rivera C, Canales-Johnson A. Affective modulation of cognitive control: A systematic review of EEG studies. Physiol Behav 2022; 249:113743. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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11
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Cellini N, Mercurio M, Sarlo M. Sleeping over moral dilemmas modulates utilitarian decision-making. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02144-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
AbstractMoral decision-making depends on the interaction between emotional and cognitive control processes, which are also affected by sleep. Here we aimed to assess the potential role of sleep in the modulation of moral decisions over time by testing the change in behavioral responses to moral dilemmas over time (1 week). Thirty-five young adults were tested twice, with one week between the sessions. In each session, participants were presented with 24 sacrificial (12 Footbridge- and 12 Trolley-type) and 6 everyday-type moral dilemmas. In sacrificial dilemmas, participants had to choose whether or not to kill one person to save more people (utilitarian choice), to judge how morally acceptable the proposed solution was, and how they felt in terms of valence and arousal during the decision. In everyday-type dilemmas, they had to decide whether to pursuit moral violations involving dishonest behavior. Between the sessions, the participants’ sleep pattern was assessed via actigraphy. We observed that participants reduced the utilitarian choices in the second session, and this effect was more pronounced for the Trolley-type dilemmas. We also showed that after a week participants judged the utilitarian choices as less morally acceptable, but there was no change in self-reported emotional reactivity (i.e., valence, and arousal). Moreover, sleep efficiency was mildly negatively associated with the changes in decision choices and moral acceptability for the Footbridge-type dilemmas. Taken together, our data suggest that dealing with a moral situation engages several interacting factors that seem to go beyond the competing roles of cognitive and emotional processes.
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12
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Zeng S, Lin X, Wang J, Hu X. Sleep's short-term memory preservation and long-term affect depotentiation effect in emotional memory consolidation: Behavioral and EEG evidence. Sleep 2021; 44:6307341. [PMID: 34153105 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsab155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES Sleep plays a pivotal role in the off-line processing of emotional memory. However, much remains unknown for its immediate vs. long-term influences. We employed behavioral and electrophysiological measures to investigate the short- and long-term impacts of sleep vs. sleep deprivation on emotional memory. METHODS Fifty-nine participants incidentally learned 60 negative and 60 neutral pictures in the evening and were randomly assigned to either sleep or sleep deprivation conditions. We measured memory recognition and subjective affective ratings in 12- and 60-hour post-encoding tests, with EEGs in the delayed test. RESULTS In a 12-hour post-encoding test, compared to sleep deprivation, sleep equally preserved both negative and neutral memory, and their affective tones. In the 60-hour post-encoding test, negative and neutral memories declined significantly in the sleep group, with attenuated emotional responses to negative memories over time. Furthermore, two groups showed spatial-temporally distinguishable ERPs at delayed test: while both groups showed the old-new frontal negativity (300-500 ms, FN400), sleep-deprived participants additionally showed an old-new parietal, Late Positive Component effect (600-1000 ms, LPC). Multivariate whole-brain ERPs analyses further suggested that sleep prioritized neural representation of emotion over memory processing, while they were less distinguishable in the sleep deprivation group. CONCLUSIONS These data suggested that sleep's impact on emotional memory and affective responses is time-dependent: sleep preserved memories and affective tones in the short term, while ameliorating affective tones in the long term. Univariate and multivariate EEG analyses revealed different neurocognitive processing of remote, emotional memories between sleep and sleep deprivation groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengzi Zeng
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xuanyi Lin
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jingxuan Wang
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Xiaoqing Hu
- Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,HKU-Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, Shenzhen, China
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13
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Davidson P, Pace-Schott E. Go to Bed and You MIGHT Feel Better in the Morning—the Effect of Sleep on Affective Tone and Intrusiveness of Emotional Memories. CURRENT SLEEP MEDICINE REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40675-020-00200-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Purpose of Review
It is important to examine what effect sleep has after an emotional experience. More knowledge about this topic could help inform us whether there are any potential sleep interventions that could help make sure that memories of negative emotional experiences are processed in the most adaptive manner possible.
Recent Findings
Findings on the role of sleep in altering reactivity to emotional stimuli have been highly varied, with significant findings in opposite directions. A new exciting development in the field is several studies finding that sleep seems to make memories of negative experiences less intrusive.
Summary
This review has mainly aimed to give an overview of the field, and of which issues need to be resolved. We argue for there being a strong need for standardization of how data are analyzed and presented, as well as for better methods for determining to what extent the effects of sleep are specific for a particular memory, or represent general changes in emotional reactivity.
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14
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Davidson P, Jönsson P, Carlsson I, Pace-Schott E. Does Sleep Selectively Strengthen Certain Memories Over Others Based on Emotion and Perceived Future Relevance? Nat Sci Sleep 2021; 13:1257-1306. [PMID: 34335065 PMCID: PMC8318217 DOI: 10.2147/nss.s286701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleep has been found to have a beneficial effect on memory consolidation. It has furthermore frequently been suggested that sleep does not strengthen all memories equally. The first aim of this review paper was to examine whether sleep selectively strengthens emotional declarative memories more than neutral ones. We examined this first by reviewing the literature focusing on sleep/wake contrasts, and then the literature on whether any specific factors during sleep preferentially benefit emotional memories, with a special focus on the often-suggested claim that rapid eye movement sleep primarily consolidates emotional memories. A second aim was to examine if sleep preferentially benefits memories based on other cues of future relevance such as reward, test-expectancy or different instructions during encoding. Once again, we first focused on studies comparing sleep and wake groups, and then on studies examining the contributions of specific factors during sleep (for each future relevance paradigm, respectively). The review revealed that although some support exists that sleep is more beneficial for certain kinds of memories based on emotion or other cues of future relevance, the majority of studies does not support such an effect. Regarding specific factors during sleep, our review revealed that no sleep variable has reliably been found to be specifically associated with the consolidation of certain kinds of memories over others based on emotion or other cues of future relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Per Davidson
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Peter Jönsson
- School of Education and Environment, Centre for Psychology, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden
| | | | - Edward Pace-Schott
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, USA
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15
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Abstract
Abstract. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by intrusive re-experiencing of emotional memories of a traumatic event. Such memories are formed after exposure to trauma in the context of a cascading stress response including high levels of emotional arousal and stress hormone release. Sleep could be a key modulator of early memory formation and re-consolidation processes. Initial studies have investigated this association in this early time period, that is, hours and days after trauma exposure, and its role in modulating trauma memories and PTSD. The time is thus ripe to integrate findings from these studies. The current review consolidated evidence from five experimental and seven naturalistic studies on the association between trauma, sleep, and the development of intrusive emotional memories and PTSD, respectively. Together, the studies point to a potential protective role of sleep after trauma for the development of intrusive memories and PTSD. Findings regarding key sleep architecture features are more mixed and require additional investigation. The findings are important for prevention and intervention science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasmine Azza
- Division of Experimental Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Sleep & Health Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ines Wilhelm
- Division of Experimental Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Germany
| | - Birgit Kleim
- Division of Experimental Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Sleep & Health Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
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16
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Paller KA, Creery JD, Schechtman E. Memory and Sleep: How Sleep Cognition Can Change the Waking Mind for the Better. Annu Rev Psychol 2020; 72:123-150. [PMID: 32946325 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The memories that we retain can serve many functions. They guide our future actions, form a scaffold for constructing the self, and continue to shape both the self and the way we perceive the world. Although most memories we acquire each day are forgotten, those integrated within the structure of multiple prior memories tend to endure. A rapidly growing body of research is steadily elucidating how the consolidation of memories depends on their reactivation during sleep. Processing memories during sleep not only helps counteract their weakening but also supports problem solving, creativity, and emotional regulation. Yet, sleep-based processing might become maladaptive, such as when worries are excessively revisited. Advances in research on memory and sleep can thus shed light on how this processing influences our waking life, which can further inspire the development of novel strategies for decreasing detrimental rumination-like activity during sleep and for promoting beneficial sleep cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken A Paller
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA; , ,
| | - Jessica D Creery
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA; , ,
| | - Eitan Schechtman
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA; , ,
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