Concurrent presentation of memory-related odors and sounds nullified sleep reactivation benefits.

ABSTRACT: Reactivation of recently acquired memories during sleep supports their longevity. Reactivation can be biased during sleep using odors or sounds through a technique termed targeted memory reactivation (TMR). Here, we attempted to selectively weaken memories by reactivating them together with forgetting instructions. We delivered sounds to reactivate spatial memories and concurrent odors to reactivate instructions. Participants learned about the instructions in a Directed-Forgetting task performed with a list of to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten words. One odor was linked with instructions to forget, one with instructions to remember, and a third was not assigned any meaning. During a nap, sounds previously linked with object-location learning were presented with these odors. Spatial reca

SUBMITTER: Subramanian G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12324248 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature