MEmory for MOtor skills through RIpples (MEMORI)

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How are brief experiences converted into durable memory traces? Research has established the importance of post-learning sleep for memory stabilisation ('consolidation'). Sleep-dependent memory consolidation relies on reactivation ('replay') of learning experiences, mediated by interactions between the hippocampus and other (sub)cortical brain regions. To date, empirical evidence for sleep-dependent memory consolidation has been derived mainly from studies on declarative memory. Therefore, little progress has been made in examining the signatures of motor memory consolidation during sleep. To explore this largely uncharted territory, we will leverage the extensive findings on the role of hippocampal 'ripples' for declarative memory to interrogate the neural mechanisms that govern sleep-dependent motor memory consolidation. Specifically, we will apply direct intracranial hippocampal recordings (iEEG) and whole-head Magnetoencephalography (MEG) during (i) motor sequence learning and (ii) subsequent sleep to assess the hippocampal signatures of motor memory replay alongside associated whole-brain dynamics. We hypothesise that (1) motor sequence representations can be decoded from the hippocampal iEEG signals and whole-head MEG patterns, (2) reactivation preferentially occurs during ripples compared to sleep episodes without ripples and that (3) signatures of motor sequence-specific reactivation during sleep predict overnight behavioural stabilisation across individuals. Results will elucidate the role of the hippocampus in consolidation beyond declarative memory and further our understanding of whole-brain mechanisms that enable motor memory consolidation during sleep.