Does sleep protect memories against interference? A failure to replicate.

ABSTRACT: Across a broad spectrum of memory tasks, retention is superior following a night of sleep compared to a day of wake. However, this result alone does not clarify whether sleep merely slows the forgetting that would otherwise occur as a result of information processing during wakefulness, or whether sleep actually consolidates memories, protecting them from subsequent retroactive interference. Two influential studies suggested that sleep protects memories against the subsequent retroactive interference that occurs when participants learn new yet overlapping information (interference learning). In these studies, interference learning was much less detrimental to memory following a night of sleep compared to a day of wakefulness, an indication that sleep supports this important aspect of memor

SUBMITTER: Bailes C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7018054 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature