The DOI matches its Crossref record; 48 of the 48 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Dreaming of a Learning Task Is Associated with Enhanced Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation
Open accessAbstract
It is now well established that postlearning sleep is beneficial for human memory performance. Meanwhile, human and animal studies have demonstrated that learning-related neural activity is re-expressed during posttraining nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. NREM sleep processes appear to be particularly beneficial for hippocampus-dependent forms of memory. These observations suggest that learning triggers the reactivation and reorganization of memory traces during sleep, a systems-level process that in turn enhances behavioral performance. Here, we hypothesized that dreaming about a learning experience during NREM sleep would be associated with improved performance on a hippocampus-dependent spatial memory task. Subjects were trained on a virtual navigation task and then retested on the same task 5 hr after initial training. Improved performance at retest was strongly associated with task-related dream imagery during an intervening afternoon nap. Task-related thoughts during wakefulness, in contrast, did not predict improved performance. These observations suggest that sleep-dependent memory consolidation in humans is facilitated by the offline reactivation of recently formed memories, and furthermore that dream experiences reflect this memory processing. That similar effects were not observed during wakefulness suggests that these mnemonic processes are specific to the sleep state.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source doesn’t support the claim as written.
In the citing paper
“When participants played an emotionally engaging ski computer game, 30% of dreams reported upon awakenings (from non-REM sleep stage 1 and 2) shortly after sleep onset contained elements related to the computer game (1304).”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [1304]
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“they are often related to waking-life experiences”
From The Functional Role of Dreaming in Emotional Processes (2019) · cites this paper as Wamsley et al., 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Reactivation of hippocampal ensemble memories during sleep
Wilson, M. A., & McNaughton, B. L. (1994) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.8036517 · Cited by 3,118
Quantification of Sleepiness: A New Approach
Hoddes, E., Zarcone, V., Smythe, H., Phillips, R., & Dement, W. C. (1973) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1973.tb00801.x · Cited by 2,538
Sleep function and synaptic homeostasis
Tononi, G., & Cirelli, C. (2006) · Sleep Medicine Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2005.05.002 · Cited by 2,151
Huber, R., Felice Ghilardi, M., Massimini, M., & Tononi, G. (2004) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature02663 · Cited by 1,854
Boosting slow oscillations during sleep potentiates memory
Marshall, L., Helgadóttir, H., Mölle, M., & Born, J. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05278 · Cited by 1,792
Coordinated memory replay in the visual cortex and hippocampus during sleep
Ji, D., & Wilson, M. A. (2007) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn1825 · Cited by 1,669
Memory of sequential experience in the hippocampus during slow wave sleep
Lee, A. K., & Wilson, M. A. (2002) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(02)01096-6 · Cited by 1,296
Odor cues during slow-wave sleep prompt declarative memory consolidation
Rasch, B., Büchel, C., Gais, S., & Born, J. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1138581 · Cited by 1,181
Coordinated interactions between hippocampal Ripples and Cortical Spindles during Slow-Wave Sleep
Siapas, A. G., & Wilson, M. A. (1998) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80629-7 · Cited by 1,052
Effects of early and late nocturnal sleep on declarative and procedural memory
Plihal, W., & Born, J. (1997) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.1997.9.4.534 · Cited by 1,026
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Wamsley, 2008, Virtual maze learning is enhanced by a short daytime nap containing only NREM sleep, Sleep, 31, A386
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Rasch, B., & Born, J. (2013) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00032.2012 · Cited by 2,783
Sleep-dependent memory triage: evolving generalization through selective processing
Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2013) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.3303 · Cited by 755
Self-citationSystem consolidation of memory during sleep
Born, J., & Wilhelm, I. (2012) · Psychological Research · doi:10.1007/s00426-011-0335-6 · Cited by 667
Sleep, Cognition, and Normal Aging
Scullin, M. K., & Bliwise, D. L. (2015) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691614556680 · Cited by 546
Sleep selectively enhances memory expected to be of future relevance
Wilhelm, I., Diekelmann, S., Molzow, I., Ayoub, A., Mölle, M., & Born, J. (2011) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3575-10.2011 · Cited by 397
Metadata
- Authors
- Wamsley, E. J., Tucker, M., Payne, J. D., Benavides, J. A., & Stickgold, R.
- Affiliations
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Stickgold, Robert
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-05
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 850-855
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2869395
- OpenAlex
- W2017588681
- Cited by
- 255
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 11.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32 HL 07901, T32HL007901)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH065292, R01-MH 48832, R01MH048832, R01-MH65292)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- sleep-dependent memory consolidation, dreams, NREM sleep, hippocampal-dependent memory, spatial memory, memory reactivation, dream imagery, memory reorganization
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Cognition, Dreams, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Psychomotor Performance, Sleep Stages, Maze Learning, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review