Sleep’s Role in Sharpening Memory Unveiled
Scientists from the Rotman Research Institute and the University of Toronto have discovered that sleep does more than safeguard memories—it refines their precision. An experiment demonstrated that after a single night’s rest, people recalled the sequence of events more accurately, with benefits lingering over a year later. The findings appear in Nature Human Behaviour.
The study employed an immersive audio-guided tour of artworks. Participants memorized the order of exhibits and their details, then faced tests immediately after the tour, the next day, and at intervals of a week, a month, and a year. One group took the evening tour and slept in a lab where brain activity was monitored, while the other stayed awake all day before testing.
The results were striking: those who slept retained the sequence of events more vividly, while the wakeful group saw both order and details fade evenly. Brain activity analysis revealed that sleep doesn’t just shield memories from fading—it reworks them, spotlighting what matters most.
This breakthrough underscores sleep’s power in shaping episodic memory. Looking ahead, researchers aim to explore its impact on recalling emotional or traumatic experiences.
