Memory improvement via slow-oscillatory stimulation during sleep in older adults

NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING

卷:36

Article

Westerberg, Carmen E.^1,2,3  Florczak, Susan M.^2,3  Weintraub, Sandra^3,4,5  Mesulam, M. -Marsel^3,4,6  Marshall, Lisa⁷  Zee, Phyllis C.^3,6  Paller, Ken A.^2,3 

[1] Texas State Univ, Dept Psychol, San Marcos, TX 78666 USA

[2] Northwestern Univ, Dept Psychol, Evanston, IL USA

[3] Northwestern Univ, Interdept Neurosci Program, Evanston, IL USA

[4] Northwestern Univ, Feinberg Sch Med, Cognit Neurol & Alzheimers Dis Ctr, Evanston, IL USA

[5] Northwestern Univ, Feinberg Sch Med, Dept Psychiat & Behav Sci, Evanston, IL USA

[6] Northwestern Univ, Feinberg Sch Med, Dept Neurol, Evanston, IL USA

[7] Univ Lubeck, Inst Expt & Clin Pharmacol & Toxicol, Lubeck, Germany

关键词: Slow-wave sleep;    Aging;    Electrical stimulation;    Declarative memory;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2015.05.014

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

We examined the intriguing but controversial idea that disrupted sleep-dependent consolidation contributes to age-related memory decline. Slow-wave activity during sleep may help strengthen neural connections and provide memories with long-term stability, in which case decreased slow-wave activity in older adults could contribute to their weaker memories. One prediction from this account is that age-related memory deficits should be reduced by artificially enhancing slow-wave activity. In young adults, applying transcranial current oscillating at a slow frequency (0.75 Hz) during sleep improves memory. Here, we tested whether this procedure can improve memory in older adults. In 2 sessions separated by 1 week, we applied either slow-oscillatory stimulation or sham stimulation during an afternoon nap in a double-blind, crossover design. Memory tests were administered before and after sleep. A larger improvement in word-pair recall and higher slow-wave activity was observed with slow-oscillatory stimulation than with sham stimulation. This is the first demonstration that this procedure can improve memory in older adults, suggesting that declarative memory performance in older adults is partly dependent on slow-wave activity during sleep. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free