Memory Reactivation During Sleep Improves Performance of Challenging Motor Skills

Journal of Neuroscience October 18, 2021, JN-RM-0265-21; DOI: https: //doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0265-21.2021

Commentary

Memory reactivation during sleep can enhance different types of learning, and basic motor skills may benefit from sleep.

However, there is insufficient evidence on whether memory reactivation during sleep contributes to learning how to perform new behaviors.

This study investigated motor learning in a myoelectric feedback task.

Human male and female participants learned to control the myoelectric activity of specific arm muscles in order to move a computer cursor to each of 16 locations. Each location was associated with a unique sound.

Half of the sounds were played during slow-wave sleep to reactivate the corresponding muscle control memory. After sleep, movements cued during sleep were executed more quickly and efficiently than those not cued.

This result indicates that memory reactivation during sleep contributes to learning to execute actions.