Investigating the Role of Targeted Memory Reactivation in Sleep Spindle Production
Abstract
In ‘targeted memory reactivation’ (TMR) paradigms, information learned during wakefulness is paired with a cue, and reactivated during sleep by presenting that same cue. TMR improves memory. In a prior study (Antony et al., 2012), participants learned two melodies. One melody was cued during a nap, and performance was better than for the uncued melody. The current study reanalyzed these data to characterize sleep spindle density during TMR cue-periods relative to non-cued periods, and whether spindle density correlated with performance. During TMR stimulation, spindle density was significantly higher than during non-stimulation in four time windows. Compared to the non-TMR group, higher spindle density occurred in two windows in the TMR group. Within-subject, spindle density was not correlated with accuracy, while between-subjects, spindle quantity correlated with post-nap accuracy improvements (r = .507). Thus, spindle density is altered at specific times by TMR, but TMR-specific density changes may not predict performance.