| Summary: | Why is sleep important? It is considered that sleep is crucial for memory consolidation by strengthening and integrating labile new memory traces into pre-existing memory networks. 1 Without this process, newly learned information would be susceptible to forgetting. Sleep is classified into two stages, rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, based on rhythmic activity of the brain. The 0.5 - 4 Hz waves or slow oscillations (SOs), a major characteristic of NREM sleep, are critical for memory consolidation. By enhancing SOshumans, memory was shown to be improved. 2 However, mechanisms underlying SO-dependent memory consolidation have remained unclear. [1st Award]
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