TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of sleep and sleep deprivation in consolidating fear memories
AU - Menz, M. M.
AU - Rihm, J. S.
AU - Salari, N.
AU - Born, J.
AU - Kalisch, R.
AU - Pape, H. C.
AU - Marshall, L.
AU - Büchel, C.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Katrin Müller, Kathrin Wendt, and Timo Krämer for their support in acquiring the MRI data and Jürgen Finsterbusch for setting up the fMRI protocol. We would also like to thank Falk Eippert for his instructions on electrical stimulation and evaluation of skin conductance responses and Alexander Heitmann for his assistance during the wake nights. MMM thanks the Zonta-Club Hamburg-Alster for their support. The study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG ( SFB 654 , project A12 to LM and CB; SFB-TRR 58 , project A03 to HCP, B03 to CB; Emmy Noether grant KA 1623/3-1 to RK), and a Max Planck-Research Award (to HCP).
PY - 2013/7/5
Y1 - 2013/7/5
N2 - Sleep, in particular REM sleep, has been shown to improve the consolidation of emotional memories. Here, we investigated the role of sleep and sleep deprivation on the consolidation of fear memories and underlying neuronal mechanisms. We employed a Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm either followed by a night of polysomnographically monitored sleep, or wakefulness in forty healthy participants. Recall of learned fear was better after sleep, as indicated by stronger explicitly perceived anxiety and autonomous nervous responses. These effects were positively correlated with the preceding time spent in REM sleep and paralleled by activation of the basolateral amygdala. These findings suggest REM sleep-associated consolidation of fear memory in the human amygdala. In view of the critical participation of fear learning mechanisms in the etiology of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, deprivation of REM sleep after exposure to distressing events is an interesting target for further investigation.
AB - Sleep, in particular REM sleep, has been shown to improve the consolidation of emotional memories. Here, we investigated the role of sleep and sleep deprivation on the consolidation of fear memories and underlying neuronal mechanisms. We employed a Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm either followed by a night of polysomnographically monitored sleep, or wakefulness in forty healthy participants. Recall of learned fear was better after sleep, as indicated by stronger explicitly perceived anxiety and autonomous nervous responses. These effects were positively correlated with the preceding time spent in REM sleep and paralleled by activation of the basolateral amygdala. These findings suggest REM sleep-associated consolidation of fear memory in the human amygdala. In view of the critical participation of fear learning mechanisms in the etiology of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, deprivation of REM sleep after exposure to distressing events is an interesting target for further investigation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84875677506&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.03.001
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.03.001
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 23501052
AN - SCOPUS:84875677506
SN - 1053-8119
VL - 75
SP - 87
EP - 96
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
ER -
