THE ROLE OF SLEEP IN THE ENHANCEMENT AND IMPEDANCE OF EPISODIC EMOTIONAL MEMORIES
type: CreativeWork
description: "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: "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."
author: De Jesus, Rafael
keywords: Sleep, Memory, Emotion, Medicine and Health Sciences, Psychiatry and Psychology
date published: 2012-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:56:40Z
provider: City University of New York - City College
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: City University of New York - City College