Modulate memory consolidation during sleep to selectively weaken memories
During sleep, memories that were created during wake are reactivated and strengthened. Using targeted memory reactivation, we can bias sleep processing to selectively enhance memory. For this project, however, the object is to do the opposite. We aim to weaken specific memories by establishing and strengthening inhibitory circuits, with the goal of using this technique to reduce the impact of maladaptive memories in psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Reveal the role of encoding context in memory consolidation processes
Research on memory reactivation has focused on specific, isolated memories. However, real-life memories do not exist in isolation; they interact with one another. Memories are embedded in contexts with elaborate spatiotemporal and semantic features. Given that context plays a pivotal role in the organization of memories, we hypothesize that it is involved in consolidation processes during sleep as well. Using EEG and functional MRI, we aim to reveal the role of naturalistic contexts in memory reactivation during sleep.
Reveal how neural activation during sleep may exacerbate depression symptoms
While we sleep, offline processing of memories occurs under the hood, improving subsequent retrieval. Although research has focused on memory reactivation, converging evidence shows that sleep also facilitates emotional processing. Critically, sleep abnormalities are characteristic of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). We hypothesize that maladaptive activation of brain networks supporting emotional processing during sleep is implicated in MDD etiology and progression. Using analytic tools developed for monitoring memory reactivation, we will expose offline emotional activation and demonstrate its connection with waking well-being, with the goal of eventually developing treatments to realign maladaptive sleep processing.
Test sleep’s effects on real-life memories using multi-sensory stimulation
Studies exploring the mechanisms of consolidation in humans have primarily used lab-based, non-engaging memory tasks, but real-life events are considerably more complex; they involve rich multisensory environments experienced in the first person, resulting in multiple interacting memories. We investigate memory processing during sleep using a novel, ecologically valid, multisensory design and causal manipulations of cognition during sleep. The findings will inform future research on memory consolidation of real-life experiences, set the stage for ever-more naturalistic experiments, and introduce novel methods for biasing memory reactivation using multisensory (odors + sounds) apparatuses.
.