School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada; The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research affiliated with the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Sleep Med Rev. 2018 Oct;41:173-184. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2018.03.001. Epub 2018 Mar 15.
Research suggests sleep plays a role in the consolidation of recently acquired memories for long-term storage. rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has been shown to play a complex role in emotional-memory processing, and may be involved in subsequent waking-day emotional reactivity and amygdala responsivity. Interaction of the hippocampus and basolateral amygdala with the medial-prefrontal cortex is associated with sleep-dependent learning and emotional memory processing. REM is also implicated in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is characterized by sleep disturbance, heightened reactivity to fearful stimuli, and nightmares. Many suffers of PTSD also exhibit dampened medial-prefrontal cortex activity. However, the effects of PTSD-related brain changes on REM-dependent consolidation or the notion of 'over-consolidation' (strengthening of memory traces to such a degree that they become resistant to extinction) have been minimally explored. Here, we posit that (in addition to sleep architecture changes) the memory functions of REM must also be altered in PTSD. We propose a model of REM-dependent consolidation of learned fear in PTSD and examine how PTSD-related brain changes might interact with fear learning. We argue that reduced efficacy of inhibitory medial-prefrontal pathways may lead to maladaptive processing of traumatic memories in the early stages of consolidation after trauma.
研究表明，睡眠在将新获得的记忆巩固为长期存储方面发挥作用。快速眼动 (REM) 睡眠已被证明在情绪记忆处理中发挥着复杂的作用，并且可能与随后的清醒日情绪反应和杏仁核反应性有关。海马体和基底外侧杏仁核与内侧前额叶皮层的相互作用与睡眠依赖的学习和情绪记忆处理有关。REM 还与创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 有关，其特征是睡眠障碍、对恐惧刺激的反应增强和噩梦。许多 PTSD 患者也表现出内侧前额叶皮层活动减弱。然而，与 PTSD 相关的大脑变化对 REM 依赖性巩固的影响，或者“过度巩固”（记忆痕迹增强到难以消除的程度）的概念，尚未得到充分探讨。在这里，我们假设（除了睡眠结构变化），在 PTSD 中，REM 的记忆功能也必须发生改变。我们提出了 PTSD 中习得性恐惧的 REM 依赖性巩固模型，并研究了 PTSD 相关的大脑变化如何与恐惧学习相互作用。我们认为，抑制性内侧前额叶通路的功效降低可能导致创伤后早期巩固阶段创伤性记忆的适应性处理。
