TY - JOUR
T1 - REM sleep in naps differentially relates to memory consolidation in typical preschoolers and children with Down syndrome
AU - Spanò, Goffredina
AU - Gómez, Rebecca L.
AU - Demara, Bianca I.
AU - Alt, Mary
AU - Cowen, Stephen L.
AU - Edgin, Jamie O.
PY - 2018/11/13
Y1 - 2018/11/13
N2 - Sleep is recognized as a physiological state associated with learning, with studies showing that knowledge acquisition improves with naps. Little work has examined sleep-dependent learning in people with developmental disorders, for whom sleep quality is often impaired. We examined the effect of natural, in-home naps on word learning in typical young children and children with Down syndrome (DS). Despite similar immediate memory retention, naps benefitted memory performance in typical children but hindered performance in children with DS, who retained less when tested after a nap, but were more accurate after a wake interval. These effects of napping persisted 24 h later in both groups, even after an intervening overnight period of sleep. During naps in typical children, memory retention for object-label associations correlated positively with percent of time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. However, in children with DS, a population with reduced REM, learning was impaired, but only after the nap. This finding shows that a nap can increase memory loss in a subpopulation, highlighting that naps are not universally beneficial. Further, in healthy preschooler’s naps, processes in REM sleep may benefit learning.
AB - Sleep is recognized as a physiological state associated with learning, with studies showing that knowledge acquisition improves with naps. Little work has examined sleep-dependent learning in people with developmental disorders, for whom sleep quality is often impaired. We examined the effect of natural, in-home naps on word learning in typical young children and children with Down syndrome (DS). Despite similar immediate memory retention, naps benefitted memory performance in typical children but hindered performance in children with DS, who retained less when tested after a nap, but were more accurate after a wake interval. These effects of napping persisted 24 h later in both groups, even after an intervening overnight period of sleep. During naps in typical children, memory retention for object-label associations correlated positively with percent of time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. However, in children with DS, a population with reduced REM, learning was impaired, but only after the nap. This finding shows that a nap can increase memory loss in a subpopulation, highlighting that naps are not universally beneficial. Further, in healthy preschooler’s naps, processes in REM sleep may benefit learning.
KW - Development
KW - Down syndrome
KW - Memory
KW - Naps
KW - Sleep
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056506423&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85056506423&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1811488115
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1811488115
M3 - Article
C2 - 30373840
AN - SCOPUS:85056506423
VL - 115
SP - 11844
EP - 11849
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 46
ER -