Abstract
Previously, we demonstrated that precise temporal coordination between slow oscillations (SOs) and sleep spindles indexes declarative memory network development (Hahn et al., 2020). However, it is unclear whether these findings in the declarative memory domain also apply in the motor memory domain. Here, we compared adolescents and adults learning juggling, a real-life gross-motor task. Juggling performance was impacted by sleep and time of day effects. Critically, we found that improved task proficiency after sleep lead to an attenuation of the learning curve, suggesting a dynamic juggling learning process. We employed individualized cross-frequency coupling analyses to reduce inter- and intragroup variability of oscillatory features. Advancing our previous findings, we identified a more precise SO-spindle coupling in adults compared to adolescents. Importantly, coupling precision over motor areas predicted overnight changes in task proficiency and learning curve, indicating that SO-spindle coupling relates to the dynamic motor learning process. Our results provide first evidence that regionally specific, precisely coupled sleep oscillations support gross-motor learning.
Highlights
IntroductionThe influential active system consolidation theory suggests that long-term consolidation of memories during sleep is driven by a precise temporal interplay between sleep spindles and slow oscillations (Diekelmann & Born, 2010; Klinzing et al, 2019)
Sleep actively supports learning (Diekelmann & Born, 2010)
The influential active system consolidation theory suggests that long-term consolidation of memories during sleep is driven by a precise temporal interplay between sleep spindles and slow oscillations (Diekelmann & Born, 2010; Klinzing et al, 2019)
Summary
The influential active system consolidation theory suggests that long-term consolidation of memories during sleep is driven by a precise temporal interplay between sleep spindles and slow oscillations (Diekelmann & Born, 2010; Klinzing et al, 2019). Memories acquired during wakefulness are reactivated in the hippocampus during sharp-wave ripple events in sleep (Wilson & McNaughton, 1994; Zhang et al, 2018). These events are nested within thalamo-cortical sleep spindles that mediate synaptic plasticity (Niethard et al, 2018; Rosanova & Ulrich, 2005). The role of SO-spindle coordination for motor learning or consolidation of procedural information remains poorly understood
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