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. 2011 Jun 1;10(2):167-177.
doi: 10.1891/1945-8959.10.2.167.

Continuous Re-Exposure to Environmental Sound Cues During Sleep Does Not Improve Memory for Semantically Unrelated Word Pairs

Kelly C Donohue  1 , Rebecca M C Spencer  2
Affiliations

Continuous Re-Exposure to Environmental Sound Cues During Sleep Does Not Improve Memory for Semantically Unrelated Word Pairs

Kelly C Donohue et al. J Cogn Educ Psychol. .

Abstract

Two recent studies illustrated that cues present during encoding can enhance recall if re-presented during sleep. This suggests an academic strategy. Such effects have only been demonstrated with spatial learning and cue presentation was isolated to slow wave sleep (SWS). The goal of this study was to examine whether sounds enhance sleep-dependent consolidation of a semantic task if the sounds are re-presented continuously during sleep. Participants encoded a list of word pairs in the evening and recall was probed following an interval with overnight sleep. Participants encoded the pairs with the sound of "the ocean" from a sound machine. The first group slept with this sound; the second group slept with a different sound ("rain"); and the third group slept with no sound. Sleeping with sound had no impact on subsequent recall. Although a null result, this work provides an important test of the implications of context effects on sleep-dependent memory consolidation.

Keywords: consolidation; context; learning; sleep.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Recall across groups. Dotted lines reflect intersession intervals. Error bars reflect standard error.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Intersession change in recall (delayed recall accuracy minus accuracy at the end of immediate recall). Error bars reflect standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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