\"The current study examined whether sleep enhances the retention of emotionally arousing memories, and whether an emotional memory can be blocked with a single night of sleep deprivation. Using a modified version of a slide show varying in emotionality with respect to the narrative (participants' acting as either a mother or father experiencing the tragic death of their imagined child), 100 (healthy young adult student volunteer) subjects following the experience were randomly assigned to either a normal night of sleep or were variously sleep deprived (in laboratory). After having experienced the emotional event followed immediately by a night of sleep deprivation, and a subsequent full recovery night of sleep, we found that sleep deprivation blocked the augmented retention of the emotional memory (p = 0.01) seen in a group having had a normal night of sleep. Further, we found that the late half-night sleep deprivation blocked the retention of the augmented memory, to an even greater extent (p < .005). The results indicate a central role for late-night Stage 2 and REM sleep in the consolidation of emotional memories. The results further indicate that in the immediate aftermath of an emotionally arousing event, sleep deprivation may serve as a prophylactic intervention preventing long-term consolidation of an emotional (i.e., traumatic) memory.\"
","abstract_html":"<p>"The current study examined whether sleep enhances the retention of emotionally arousing memories, and whether an emotional memory can be blocked with a single night of sleep deprivation. Using a modified version of a slide show varying in emotionality with respect to the narrative (participants' acting as either a mother or father experiencing the tragic death of their imagined child), 100 (healthy young adult student volunteer) subjects following the experience were randomly assigned to either a normal night of sleep or were variously sleep deprived (in laboratory). After having experienced the emotional event followed immediately by a night of sleep deprivation, and a subsequent full recovery night of sleep, we found that sleep deprivation blocked the augmented retention of the emotional memory (p = 0.01) seen in a group having had a normal night of sleep. Further, we found that the late half-night sleep deprivation blocked the retention of the augmented memory, to an even greater extent (p < .005). The results indicate a central role for late-night Stage 2 and REM sleep in the consolidation of emotional memories. The results further indicate that in the immediate aftermath of an emotionally arousing event, sleep deprivation may serve as a prophylactic intervention preventing long-term consolidation of an emotional (i.e., traumatic) memory."</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["De Jesus, Rafael"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:56:40Z","subjects":["Sleep","Memory","Emotion","Medicine and Health Sciences","Psychiatry and Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/117","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["De Jesus, Rafael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Sleep","Memory","Emotion","Medicine and Health Sciences","Psychiatry and Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/117"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["\"The current study examined whether sleep enhances the retention of emotionally arousing memories, and whether an emotional memory can be blocked with a single night of sleep deprivation. Using a modified version of a slide show varying in emotionality with respect to the narrative (participants' acting as either a mother or father experiencing the tragic death of their imagined child), 100 (healthy young adult student volunteer) subjects following the experience were randomly assigned to either a normal night of sleep or were variously sleep deprived (in laboratory). After having experienced the emotional event followed immediately by a night of sleep deprivation, and a subsequent full recovery night of sleep, we found that sleep deprivation blocked the augmented retention of the emotional memory (p = 0.01) seen in a group having had a normal night of sleep. Further, we found that the late half-night sleep deprivation blocked the retention of the augmented memory, to an even greater extent (p < .005). The results indicate a central role for late-night Stage 2 and REM sleep in the consolidation of emotional memories. The results further indicate that in the immediate aftermath of an emotionally arousing event, sleep deprivation may serve as a prophylactic intervention preventing long-term consolidation of an emotional (i.e., traumatic) memory.\"
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["THE ROLE OF SLEEP IN THE ENHANCEMENT AND IMPEDANCE OF EPISODIC EMOTIONAL MEMORIES"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["De Jesus, Rafael"],"dc:description.abstract":["\"The current study examined whether sleep enhances the retention of emotionally arousing memories, and whether an emotional memory can be blocked with a single night of sleep deprivation. Using a modified version of a slide show varying in emotionality with respect to the narrative (participants' acting as either a mother or father experiencing the tragic death of their imagined child), 100 (healthy young adult student volunteer) subjects following the experience were randomly assigned to either a normal night of sleep or were variously sleep deprived (in laboratory). After having experienced the emotional event followed immediately by a night of sleep deprivation, and a subsequent full recovery night of sleep, we found that sleep deprivation blocked the augmented retention of the emotional memory (p = 0.01) seen in a group having had a normal night of sleep. Further, we found that the late half-night sleep deprivation blocked the retention of the augmented memory, to an even greater extent (p < .005). The results indicate a central role for late-night Stage 2 and REM sleep in the consolidation of emotional memories. The results further indicate that in the immediate aftermath of an emotionally arousing event, sleep deprivation may serve as a prophylactic intervention preventing long-term consolidation of an emotional (i.e., traumatic) memory.\"
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/117"],"dc:subject":["Sleep","Memory","Emotion","Medicine and Health Sciences","Psychiatry and Psychology"],"dc:title":["THE ROLE OF SLEEP IN THE ENHANCEMENT AND IMPEDANCE OF EPISODIC EMOTIONAL MEMORIES"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:56:40Z"}