Peters Kevin R, Smith Valerie, Smith Carlyle T
Department of Psychology, Trent University, Canada.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 May;19(5):817-29. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.5.817.
Previous research has linked both rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and Stage 2 sleep to procedural memory consolidation. The present study sought to clarify the relationship between sleep stages and procedural memory consolidation by examining the effect of initial skill level in this relationship in young adults. In-home sleep recordings were performed on participants before and after learning the pursuit rotor task. We divided the participants into low- and high-skill groups based on their initial performance of the pursuit rotor task. In high-skill participants, there was a significant increase in Stage 2 spindle density after learning, and there was a significant correlation between the spindle density that occurred after learning and pursuit rotor performance at retest 1 week later. In contrast, there was a significant correlation between changes in REM density and performance on the pursuit rotor task during retest 1 week later in low-skill participants, although the actual increase in REM density failed to reach significance in this group. The results of the present study suggest the presence of a double dissociation in the sleep-related processes that are involved in procedural memory consolidation in low- and high-skill individuals. These results indicate that the changes in sleep microarchitecture that take place after learning depend on the initial skill level of the individual and therefore provide validation for the model proposed by Smith et al. [Smith, C. T., Aubrey, J. B., & Peters, K. R. Different roles for REM and Stage 2 sleep in motor learning. Psychologica Belgica, 44, 79-102, 2004]. Accordingly, skill level is an important variable that needs to be considered in future research on sleep and memory consolidation.
先前的研究已将快速眼动（REM）睡眠和2期睡眠与程序性记忆巩固联系起来。本研究旨在通过考察初始技能水平在这种关系中的作用，来阐明睡眠阶段与程序性记忆巩固之间的关系，研究对象为年轻成年人。在参与者学习追踪旋转器任务之前和之后，进行了在家睡眠记录。我们根据参与者在追踪旋转器任务中的初始表现，将他们分为低技能组和高技能组。在高技能参与者中，学习后2期纺锤波密度显著增加，且学习后出现的纺锤波密度与1周后复测时的追踪旋转器表现之间存在显著相关性。相比之下，低技能参与者在1周后复测时，REM密度变化与追踪旋转器任务表现之间存在显著相关性，尽管该组REM密度的实际增加未达到显著水平。本研究结果表明，低技能和高技能个体在程序性记忆巩固所涉及的与睡眠相关的过程中存在双重分离。这些结果表明，学习后睡眠微结构的变化取决于个体的初始技能水平，因此为史密斯等人提出的模型提供了验证[史密斯，C.T.，奥布里，J.B.，&彼得斯，K.R.快速眼动睡眠和2期睡眠在运动学习中的不同作用。《比利时心理学》，44，79 - 102，2004]。因此，技能水平是未来睡眠与记忆巩固研究中需要考虑的一个重要变量。
