Cited by 1,025Memory and Neural MechanismsSleep and Wakefulness ResearchMemory Processes and Influences

Dissociable stages of human memory consolidation and reconsolidation

Walker, Matthew P., Brakefield, Tiffany, Allan Hobson, J., Stickgold, Robert·2003·Nature

Abstract

Historically, the term 'memory consolidation' refers to a process whereby a memory becomes increasingly resistant to interference from competing or disrupting factors with the continued passage of time. Recent findings regarding the learning of skilled sensory and motor tasks ('procedural learning') have refined this definition, suggesting that consolidation can be more strictly determined by time spent in specific brain states such as wake, sleep or certain stages of sleep. There is also renewed interest in the possibility that recalling or 'reactivating' a previously consolidated memory renders it once again fragile and susceptible to interference, therefore requiring periods of reconsolidation. Using a motor skill finger-tapping task, here we provide evidence for at least three different stages of human motor memory processing after initial acquisition. We describe the unique contributions of wake and sleep in the development of different forms of consolidation, and show that waking reactivation can turn a previously consolidated memory back into a labile state requiring subsequent reconsolidation.

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Crossref · 10.1038/nature01930

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  • Sleep stage 2 duration and fast spindle density predict sleep-dependent improvements in a finger tapping task.

    “Training on motor tasks increased the time spent in stage 2 and the density of fast (but not slow) spindles (399, 837, 920, 921, 1173, 1174), and sleep stage 2 duration and fast spindle density also predicted sleep-dependent improvements in a finger tapping task (59,961,1285,1286).”

    From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [1285]

  • Sleep-dependent gains in skills are more robust under explicit learning conditions than under implicit learning conditions.

    “First, sleep-dependent gains in skills are more robust under explicit learning conditions (i.e., the subjects are aware about the skill to be acquired) (383, 664, 1285) compared with implicit learning conditions (385,1003,1122,1128).”

    From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [1285]

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Authors
Walker, M. P., Brakefield, T., Allan Hobson, J., & Stickgold, R.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Walker, Matthew P.
Venue
Nature
Published
2003-10
Volume
425
Issue
6958
Pages
616-620
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2095492977
Cited by
1,025
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 54 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 46 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 63 · 2014: 59 · 2013: 68 · 2012: 52
FWCI
18.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • McCormick Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
memory consolidation, memory reconsolidation, motor memory, procedural learning, finger tapping task, sleep-dependent memory consolidation, memory reactivation, wakefulness
MeSH terms
Fingers, Humans, Memory, Psychomotor Performance, Mental Recall, Sleep, Sleep Stages, Time Factors, Wakefulness

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