Sleep-Stage Sequence and Memory

睡眠阶段顺序和记忆

• 批准号: 1145796
• 负责人: Horacio de la Iglesia
• 金额: $ 58万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-01 至 2016-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1145796&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Sleep; Stage; Sequence; Memory

Despite the fact that most animals sleep, it is still unclear what function sleep serves. In humans and other mammals, one of the key functions of sleep is likely to improve learning and the ability to retain what was learned. This is indicated by the fact that sleep deprivation leads to learning and memory deficits. In humans, sleep is made up of sleep cycles that last approximately 90 minutes. Within these cycles, sleep alternates between different types of sleep or sleep stages, such as rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS) and non-REMS. These stages are present in a specific sequence within each cycle and it is believed that these sequences are important for memory. For this research, we will study a laboratory animal model (the rat) in which we can experimentally disrupt the normal sequence of sleep stages without inducing sleep deprivaation. We predict that this disruption will result in deficits in memory, providing evidence for the role of a normal sequence of sleep stages in learning processes. We will also study the molecular mechanisms by which this effect on learning may take place. Our studies will help understand how challenges to normal sleep, that are a common feature of our modern society, affect learning and may help develop strategies to improve learning performance in people that are commonly exposed to sleep disruptions. This project will also include the training of undergraduate and graduate students in research methods and techniques.

尽管大多数动物都睡觉，但人们仍然不清楚睡眠的功能。在人类和其他哺乳动物中，睡眠的关键功能之一可能是提高学习能力和保持所学知识的能力。这是由睡眠剥夺导致学习和记忆缺陷的事实表明的。在人类中，睡眠是由持续约90分钟的睡眠周期组成的。在这些周期内，睡眠在不同类型的睡眠或睡眠阶段之间交替，例如快速眼动睡眠（REMS）和非REMS。这些阶段在每个周期内以特定的顺序存在，并且认为这些顺序对记忆很重要。在这项研究中，我们将研究一种实验室动物模型（大鼠），在这种模型中，我们可以通过实验破坏睡眠阶段的正常顺序，而不会引起睡眠剥夺。我们预测，这种干扰将导致记忆缺陷，为学习过程中正常睡眠阶段顺序的作用提供证据。我们还将研究这种对学习的影响可能发生的分子机制。我们的研究将有助于了解正常睡眠的挑战是如何影响学习的，这是我们现代社会的一个共同特征，并可能有助于制定策略，以改善经常受到睡眠中断的人的学习表现。该项目还将包括对本科生和研究生进行研究方法和技术方面的培训。