https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/6658917/1999BrainResTalamini.pdf

Interruptions of early cortical development affect limbic association areas and social behaviour in rats; possible relevance for neurodevelopmental disorders

Sleep disturbances represent a core symptom in affective disorders. While healthy sleep patterns help to regulate emotions and consolidate memories, disturbed sleep participates in the genesis and maintenance of mental illnesses. As the electrophysiological mechanisms underlying restorative sleep start to be uncovered, exciting opportunities for direct applications arise. Here we discuss the first evidence on manipulation of emotional processing and memories during sleep. In particular, we examine the advantage of targeted memory reactivation procedures, especially when phase-locked to slow oscillations dynamics, in achieving such manipulations. Extrapolating from this knowledge, we propose sleep-based interventions that could provide new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of maladaptive emotional memories, as in phobias, addictions or PTSD.

Sleep as a window to treat affective disorders

Updating memories of unwanted emotions during human sleep

Abstract Study Objectives To synthesize the literature on the effect of sleep versus wake on the frequency and distress of intrusive memories in everyday life after watching film clips with distressing content as a proxy for traumatic experiences. Methods We conducted a systematic review by searching PubMed and PsychInfo. The last search was conducted on January 31, 2022. We included experimental studies comparing sleep and wake groups on intrusions using ecological diary methods, whereas studies lacking a wake control condition or relying solely on intrusion-triggering tasks or retrospective questionnaires were excluded. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate the results. Risks of biases were assessed following the Cochrane guidelines. Results Across 7 effect sizes from 6 independent studies, sleep (n = 192), as compared to wake (n = 175), significantly reduced the number of intrusive memories (Hedges’ g = −0.26, p = .04, 95% CI [−0.50, −0.01]), but not the distress associated with them (Hedges’ g = −0.14, p = .25, 95% CI [−0.38, 0.10]). Conclusions Although the results suggest that sleep reduces the number of intrusions, there is a strong need for high-powered pre-registered studies to confirm this effect. Risks of biases in the reviewed work concern the selection of the reported results, measurement of the outcome, and failure to adhere to the intervention. Limitations with the current meta-analysis include the small number of studies, which comprised only English-language articles, and the fact that it was not pre-registered.

/pdf/the-effect-of-sleep-on-intrusive-memories-in-daily-life-a-1r1x0fyv.pdf

LM Talamini

Papers

Sleep as a window to target traumatic memories

An animal model for neurodevelopmental disorders: Morphological evaluation.

Targeted memory reactivation to augment trauma treatment during sleep

Closed-Loop Acoustic Stimulation Enhancement of Slow Wave Sleep using Sleep-Monitoring Headband