Salfi Federico, D'Atri Aurora, Tempesta Daniela, De Gennaro Luigi, Ferrara Michele
Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2020 May 15;10(5):300. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10050300.
Sleep represents a crucial time window for the consolidation of memory traces. In this view, some brain rhythms play a pivotal role, first of all the sleep slow waves. In particular, the neocortical slow oscillations (SOs), in coordination with the hippocampal ripples and the thalamocortical spindles, support the long-term storage of the declarative memories. The aging brain is characterized by a disruption of this complex system with outcomes on the related cognitive functions. In recent years, the advancement of the comprehension of the sleep-dependent memory consolidation mechanisms has encouraged the development of techniques of SO enhancement during sleep to induce cognitive benefits. In this review, we focused on the studies reporting on the application of acoustic or electric stimulation procedures in order to improve sleep-dependent memory consolidation in older subjects. Although the current literature is limited and presents inconsistencies, there is promising evidence supporting the perspective to non-invasively manipulate the sleeping brain electrophysiology to improve cognition in the elderly, also shedding light on the mechanisms underlying the sleep-memory relations during healthy and pathological aging.
睡眠是记忆痕迹巩固的关键时间窗口。从这个角度来看，一些脑节律起着关键作用，首先是睡眠慢波。特别是，新皮质慢振荡（SOs）与海马涟漪和丘脑皮质纺锤波协同作用，支持陈述性记忆的长期存储。衰老的大脑表现为这个复杂系统的紊乱，对相关认知功能产生影响。近年来，对睡眠依赖型记忆巩固机制理解的进步推动了在睡眠期间增强慢振荡技术的发展，以产生认知益处。在本综述中，我们重点关注了那些报道声学或电刺激程序应用的研究，目的是改善老年受试者的睡眠依赖型记忆巩固。尽管目前的文献有限且存在不一致之处，但有很有前景的证据支持通过非侵入性方式操纵睡眠中的大脑电生理学来改善老年人认知的观点，这也为健康和病理性衰老过程中睡眠 - 记忆关系的潜在机制提供了线索。
