1
|
Picard-Deland C, Aumont T, Samson-Richer A, Paquette T, Nielsen T. Whole-body procedural learning benefits from targeted memory reactivation in REM sleep and task-related dreaming. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 183:107460. [PMID: 34015442 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Sleep facilitates memory consolidation through offline reactivations of memory traces. Dreaming may play a role in memory improvement and may reflect these memory reactivations. To experimentally address this question, we used targeted memory reactivation (TMR), i.e., application, during sleep, of a stimulus that was previously associated with learning, to assess whether it influences task-related dream imagery (or task-dream reactivations). Specifically, we asked if TMR or task-dream reactivations in either slow-wave (SWS) or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep benefit whole-body procedural learning. Healthy participants completed a virtual reality (VR) flying task prior to and following a morning nap or rest period during which task-associated tones were readministered in either SWS, REM sleep, wake or not at all. Findings indicate that learning benefits most from TMR when applied in REM sleep compared to a Control-sleep group. REM dreams that reactivated kinesthetic elements of the VR task (e.g., flying, accelerating) were also associated with higher improvement on the task than were dreams that reactivated visual elements (e.g., landscapes) or that had no reactivations. TMR did not itself influence dream content but its effects on performance were greater when coexisting with task-dream reactivations in REM sleep. Findings may help explain the mechanistic relationships between dream and memory reactivations and may contribute to the development of sleep-based methods to optimize complex skill learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Picard-Deland
- Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS-NÎM - Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Tomy Aumont
- Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS-NÎM - Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Arnaud Samson-Richer
- Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS-NÎM - Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Tyna Paquette
- Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS-NÎM - Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Tore Nielsen
- Dream & Nightmare Laboratory, Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS-NÎM - Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Québec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Solomonova E, Dubé S, Blanchette-Carrière C, Sandra DA, Samson-Richer A, Carr M, Paquette T, Nielsen T. Different Patterns of Sleep-Dependent Procedural Memory Consolidation in Vipassana Meditation Practitioners and Non-meditating Controls. Front Psychol 2020; 10:3014. [PMID: 32038390 PMCID: PMC6989470 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Aim Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and sleep spindles are all implicated in the consolidation of procedural memories. Relative contributions of sleep stages and sleep spindles were previously shown to depend on individual differences in task processing. However, no studies to our knowledge have focused on individual differences in experience with Vipassana meditation as related to sleep. Vipassana meditation is a form of mental training that enhances proprioceptive and somatic awareness and alters attentional style. The goal of this study was to examine a potential role for Vipassana meditation experience in sleep-dependent procedural memory consolidation. Methods Groups of Vipassana meditation practitioners (N = 22) and matched meditation-naïve controls (N = 20) slept for a daytime nap in the laboratory. Before and after the nap they completed a procedural task on the Wii Fit balance platform. Results Meditators performed slightly better on the task before the nap, but the two groups improved similarly after sleep. The groups showed different patterns of sleep-dependent procedural memory consolidation: in meditators, task learning was positively correlated with density of slow occipital spindles, while in controls task improvement was positively associated with time in REM sleep. Sleep efficiency and sleep architecture did not differ between groups. Meditation practitioners, however, had a lower density of occipital slow sleep spindles than controls. Conclusion Results suggest that neuroplastic changes associated with meditation practice may alter overall sleep microarchitecture and reorganize sleep-dependent patterns of memory consolidation. The lower density of occipital spindles in meditators may mean that meditation practice compensates for some of the memory functions of sleep.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elizaveta Solomonova
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS NÎM - HSCM, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Culture, Mind and Brain Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Simon Dubé
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS NÎM - HSCM, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Cloé Blanchette-Carrière
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS NÎM - HSCM, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Dasha A Sandra
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Arnaud Samson-Richer
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS NÎM - HSCM, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Michelle Carr
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS NÎM - HSCM, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Sleep Laboratory, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
| | - Tyna Paquette
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS NÎM - HSCM, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Tore Nielsen
- Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, CIUSSS NÎM - HSCM, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Solomonova E, Dubé S, Samson-Richer A, Blanchette-Carrière C, Paquette T, Nielsen T. Dream content and procedural learning in Vipassana meditators and controls. Dreaming 2018. [DOI: 10.1037/drm0000081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|