Midlife decline in declarative memory consolidation is correlated with a decline in slow wave sleep
Open accessAbstract
Sleep architecture as well as memory function are strongly age dependent. Slow wave sleep (SWS), in particular, decreases dramatically with increasing age, starting already beyond the age of 30. SWS normally predominates during early nocturnal sleep and is implicated in declarative memory consolidation. However, the consequences of changes in sleep across the life span for sleep-associated memory consolidation have not been evaluated so far. Here, we compared declarative memory consolidation (for word-pair associates) during sleep in young and middle-aged healthy humans. The age groups (18–25 vs. 48–55 yr) did not differ with regard to learning performance before retention periods that covered, respectively, the first and second half of nocturnal sleep. However, after early retention sleep, where the younger subjects showed distinctly more SWS than the middle-aged (62.3 ± 3.7 min vs. 18.4 ± 7.2 min, P < 0.001), retrieval of the word pairs in the middle-aged was clearly worse than in the young (P < 0.001). In contrast, declarative memory retention did not differ between groups after late sleep, where retention was generally worse than after early sleep (P = 0.005). Retention of declarative memories was the same in both age groups when sleep periods containing equal amounts of SWS were compared, i.e., across late sleep in the young and across early sleep in the middle-aged. Our results indicate a decline in sleep-associated declarative memory consolidation that develops already during midlife and is associated with a decrease in early nocturnal SWS.
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In humans, comparing retention of word pairs across nocturnal sleep between young (18-25 years) and middle-aged adults (48-55 years), Backhaus et al. revealed a significantly lower retention of word pairs in the middle-aged group.
“In humans, comparing retention of word pairs across nocturnal sleep between young (18 -25 years) and middle-aged adults (48 -55 years), Backhaus et al. ( 55) revealed a significantly lower retention of word pairs in the group of middle-aged participants.”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [55]
The Results report significantly lower word-pair retention in the middle-aged group after early nocturnal sleep. They also report that the groups did not differ significantly after late sleep (P = 0.11), so the unqualified claim about retention across nocturnal sleep overstates the finding. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSeveral studies reported correlations between SWS or SWA and overnight retention of declarative memory and procedural motor skills.
“Several studies reported correlations between SWS or SWA and the overnight retention of declarative memory (55,58,464,1319) as well as procedural motor skills (581, 582).”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [55]
SWS in the early nocturnal sleep interval was strikingly lower in middle-aged than young subjects.
“SWS in this interval was strikingly lower in the middle-aged than young subjects.”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [55]
The impairment in word-pair retention in middle-aged adults was observed specifically for a retention interval that covered early nocturnal sleep, which is typically dominated by SWS.
“The impairment was observed specifically for a retention interval that covered early nocturnal sleep, which is typically dominated by SWS.”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [55]
Percentages of time spent in SWS, but not in REM sleep, were strongly correlated with later retention performance.
“Also, percentages of time spent in SWS, but not in REM sleep, were strongly correlated with later retention performance.”
From About Sleep's Role in Memory (2013) · cites this paper as [55]
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References 50 · Cited by 187
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- American Psychiatric Association. 2000. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.
- Gais, S. and Born, J. 2004. Low acetylcholine during slow-wave sleep is critical for declarative memory consolidation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 101: 2140-2144.
- Maquet, P., Smith, C., and Stickgold, R. 2003. Sleep and brain plasticity. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
- Prull, M.W., Gabrieli, J.D.E., and Bunge, S.A. 2000. Age-related changes in memory: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. In The handbook of aging and cognition (eds. F.I.M. Craik and T.A. Salthouse), 2d ed., pp. 91-153.
- Authors
- Backhaus, J., Born, J., Hoeckesfeld, R., Fokuhl, S., Hohagen, F., & Junghanns, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Lübeck (DE)
- Venue
- Learning & Memory
- Publisher
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Published
- 2007-05
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 336-341
- ISSN
- 1072-0502 (ISSN-L)
- 1549-5485
- PMC
- PMC1876757
- OpenAlex
- W2084617650
- Cited by
- 187
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 9
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Learning & Memory (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 645)
- 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
- slow-wave sleep, declarative memory consolidation, aging, midlife, sleep architecture, memory retention, nocturnal sleep, age-related memory decline
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aging, Humans, Memory, Middle Aged, Mental Recall, Retention, Psychology, Sleep Stages, Word Association Tests
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