Sleep Enhances Memory
When the brain first encounters an idea, thought, image, experience, or action it works to form or encode a memory. There are many different kinds of memories that can be formed. Each must be consolidated in order to remain a stable memory. All five stages of sleep support some phase of learning and memory (Poe, Walsh, & Bjorness, 2010). This article discusses the different types of memory, stages of sleep, and what occurs that potentially strengthens memory while sleeping.
Memory
Sensory, short-term, and long-term are the three types of memory. Together they work to encode, consolidate, store, and recall information. Short-term memory is the temporary place that information is stored before forgetting or further encoding occurs. Long-term memory consists of subcategories that relate to different types of information with different activation sections of the brain. These include Explicit/Declarative memory and Implicit/Non-Declarative memory. The Declarative memory is responsible for holding episodic and semantic memories. Episodic pertains to experiences and autobiographical events. Semantic memories involve facts, concepts, and verbal symbols. While the implicit (unconscious) memory is involved in procedural memories such as skills, tasks, use of objects, and movements of the body. It is also involved in emotionally conditioned memories as well. Each type of memory demands activity in particularly different areas of the brain. (CITE)
Short-Term
Memory is the retention of information over time and it changes through our lifespan, from infancy through adulthood (Santrock 218). There are two types of memory, explicit and implicit.
There are 3 necessary steps/types that are crucial to forming a lasting memory. Step 1: sensory memory, step 2: short-term memory, and step 3: long-term memory. These are the three types of memory that are needed to build a lasting memory. Sensory memory is the shortest memory in the shortest- term memory element.One of the types of memory allows you to remember information through the 5 senses. The brain will remember anything that happened from 1 second to 60 seconds using the sensory part of your memory. An example of sensory memory is: I got hit in the head with a purple yo-yo. After sensory memory comes the short-term memory. Short-term memory acts as a “scratch- pad” for temporary recall. Short- term memory holds small amounts of information. Anything something that took place in front of your eyes for longer than 60 seconds, the short-term memory section of the brain will remember it. This section of your brain will allow you to recall that information in the next few hours or days. An example of short-term memory is: time on the clock 10 minutes ago. Lastly, comes long– term memory. Long- term memory, is used to store information of a set time
This paper examines five different sources of information that addresses information pertaining to wakeful resting or sleeping and the effects it has on memory garnered by experiments performed on humans and animals. Wakeful resting is defined as an individual that has not fallen asleep but has engaged in a period of rest that cuts them off from the distractions of the outside world. Sleep is the bodies natural cycle of rest that suspends the consciousness and allows both the body and the mind to take a break from any stressful activities and recover. By either taking a short wakeful rest or going to sleep after learning new material, memory consolidation in both humans and animals will be improved, and it is not limited to humans that
Scientist recognize 3 types of memory storage. Sensory memory which I found out last just a few seconds, short term memory, working memory and very important one, long term memory.
There are a few factors that are essential for life such as breathing or eating, but one of the most essential factor is sleep. Even though the amount of sleep people need differs from one individual to another, the fact is that eventually everyone needs to sleep. People know the importance of sleep, but due to the increased workload and the pressure of society people are getting less sleep. As a result, there has been an increase interest on the effects lack of sleep has on the mind especially the memory of a person. Many questions arose about the relationship between sleep and memory due to the fact most high school and college students have become sleep deprived. For example, does more sleep mean higher grades?
A greater understanding of these complex and dynamic brain states has helped clarify the ways in which sleep enhances memory processing. An increasing number of sleep studies have behaviourally assessed the facilitative role of REM and NREM sleep on declarative and procedural memory performance in humans. The preliminary results provided initial evidence to the idea that hippocampal-dependent declarative memories, such as memories of personal events and fact-based information, are facilitated by NREM sleep (specifically SWS) and hippocampal-independent procedural memories are facilitated by REM sleep (Plihal & Born, 1997).
During states of arousal and wakefulness, information is encoded in the neocortical and hippocampal networks in the form of memories (Frankland et al., 2005). The networks that are activated during wakefulness are subsequently reactivated during SWS via SWA, which leads to synaptic downscaling and memory consolidation. A study conducted by Peigneux and colleagues (2004) provided evidence that presents a positive association between improvement in post-sleep retrieval activity performance and the amount of hippocampal SWA that an individual experiences during SWS. This study suggests a correlation between the reactivation of wake-active neuronal networks via SWA and memory improvement during SWS. In addition to the overnight evaluation of memory consolidation, short-term evaluation of memory across the first day, which included a 90 minute sleep period between training and performance of the retrieval activity, also demonstrated a positive correlation between the amount of SWA that occurred during the sleep period and the success of the retrieval activity performance (Peigneux et al., 2004). Moreover, a study conducted by Marshall and colleagues (2004), also examined the manipulation of memory consolidation during sleep and found a positive association between hippocampal SWA and the performance of a
Some scientists believe that parts of long term memory are permanent while others will eventually weaken over time. (3) Long term memory can be divided into three sections: procedural memory, declarative memory, and remote memory. Procedural memory includes motor skills such as learning how to ride a bike or how to drive a car. "Such memories are slow to acquire but more resistant to change or loss." (4) Declarative memory is used to remember facts, such as names, dates and places. It is easy to learn but also easy to lose. Finally there is episodic memory, which is the record of events that a person stores throughout his or her experience. Recent studies show that these events, as soon as they occur, are sent to a temporary part of the brain called the hippocampus, and that over time they are moved to the neocortex for permanent storage. (5).
With the concerning matter of sleep peralisys some have turned to the belief that hypnosis is to be a trustworthy factor. On the contuary hynossis is not a trustworthy mean of displaying accurate memories because hypnosis can often create false memories. Consciousness also plays a large rule in our subjective experience of ourselves and the every cahgning world. On average we spend nearly thirty percent of our waking hours, mind wandering, and fantasizing. INitally we spend as much as one third or more of our lives in one specific state of consciousness in the sense of sleep. Thus sleep plays a critical role in storing memories and remembering emortional information. Over the years we have learned that sleep is critical for the function of our immune system, planning, reasoning, and functioning to the best of our
The generally accepted classification of memory is based on how long you can remember an item or experience (memory retention), and identifies three types of memory: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory
Sleep is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the
However, a complete understanding of the roles of REM and non-REM sleep in learning and memory has been elusive. 2a. One piece of evidence suggesting the importance of REM sleep to consolidate learning after studying is that neural activity recorded when learning is repeated in the subsequent period of sleep. Another piece of evidence suggesting the same importance is that REM duration increases after learning. This research does not suggest that non-REM sleep is unimportant in learning. 2b. Animals who are kept from sleeping don’t learn as well. We know that is not because animals that are kept awake just feel more stressed because sleep deprivation only affects learning when the deprivation happens during REM sleep. 2c. One neurotransmitter that might enhance learning after REM sleep is acetylcholine. Researchers know that acetylcholine affects learning during REM because when acetylcholine antagonists are administered as drugs during REM, learning performance is impaired during the subsequent
Long-term memory is made up of both semantic and episodic memory. Semantic memory is all of the information that one accumulates over a long period of time that is not linked by time or place. This includes information related to who, what, and why. Episodic memory acts as the memory for when and where (Argumosa, M. A., 2010).
The memory of human beings is similar to that of computers because it allows individuals to store information for later or future use. However, the storage of information in humans involves three major processes i.e. encoding, storage, and retrieval. The encoding process basically involves transforming data into meaningful form like association with an existing image, memory, or sound. This is followed by holding on to the information through a physiological change, which is the actual storage of the information. The final stage in this process is retrieval where the stored information is brought out, which is a reversal of the encoding process ("Memory, Intelligence, and States of Mind", 2011). Since humans are more complex, they have three different memory storage abilities i.e. sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory.
In general, there are three types of memory: sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Sensory memory, by definition, is the preservation of information in its original sensory form, for a fraction of a second. This means that when you smell, touch and/or see anything, the impression of the occurrence will last for a couple of moments. This