text: Physical Evidence Shows Sleeps Role in Memory Formation | Medgadget Physical Evidence Shows Sleeps Role in Memory Formation |
  Physical Evidence Shows Sleeps Role in Memory Formation
  Scientists from Rutgers University and Collége de France, Paris have finally shown why sleep is an important part of complex memory formation. In Nature Neuroscience they are reporting that "sharp wave ripples," short lasting brain events in the hippocampus when the brain is typically sleeping, combine and send the information from the hippocampus to the neocortex for long term storage.
  During stage four sleep, Buzsaki [György Buzsaki, professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University –ed.] explains, "it's as if many instruments and members of the orchestra come together to generate a loud sound, a sound so loud that it is heard by wide areas of the neocortex. These sharp, 'loud' transient events occur hundreds to thousands of times during sleep and 'teach' the neocortex to form a long-term form of the memory, a process referred to as memory consolidation." The intensity and multiple occurrence of those ripples also explain why certain events may only take place once in the waking state and yet can be remembered for a lifetime, adds Buzsaki.
  Link: Rutgers Research: Direct Evidence of the Role of Sleep in Memory Formation is Uncovered…
  Abstract in Nature Neuroscience: Selective suppression of hippocampal ripples impairs spatial memory