Quality sleep 'rescues memories'

October 9, 2003

Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3175088.stm

Even facts " forgotten " by people during a busy day may be retrieved

if this is followed by a good night's sleep.

Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to

remember simple words.

Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the

day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could

recall much more.

Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain

could " rescue " lost memories during the night.

When the brain is first asked to remember something, that memory is

laid down in an " unstable " state, meaning that it is possible that

it could be lost.

At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important into

a " stable " , more permanent state.

However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for

a " stable " memory to be made " unstable " again - simply by the act of

recalling it.

This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away

again in the face of new experiences.

Speech test

The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created

through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to

understand.

Initially, the written version of the word was available, but

afterwards the volunteers were asked to identify the word from the

audio version only.

Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to

tail off as the day ended.

However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night's

sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had " forgotten "

the previous evening.

Dr Daniel Margoliash, one of the study authors, said: " Sleep

consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent

interference or decay.

" Sleep also appears to 'recover' or restore memories. "

He said: " If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively

recover what has been lost. "

Mental pruning

Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill

University in Montreal, said: " Memory research is undergoing a

transformation - no longer is memory thought to be a hard-wiring of

the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and re-

storage.

" Sleep helps some memories 'mature' and also prunes out unimportant

memories. "

Good point about the Shen. Any comments?

Attilio

October 10, 2003

Analysis of the content of fantasy, including dreams, was (and still is I

should think) a mainstay of the psychoanalytic school. You may recall names

like Freud, Jung, and Reich. Dreaming was seen as a way for the psyche to

come to terms with traumatic experience (negative emotions, forbidden

desires) the conscious could not handle directly but nevertheless needed to

reconcile with the 'whole person'.

Piaget had something to say about the function of dreaming as well, more in

line with Attilio's quote - that dreaming is a form of internalised

behaviour that facilitates adaptation to the environment through

reinforcement actions (repetition and rehearsal in dreams) and cancellation

of negative ones, i.e., learning the right stuff and discarding the rest

Some dreams just don't seem to make sense at all no matter how hard you try.

I have heard the phrase " junk dreams " and think that is appropriate for the

'disposal service' performed on redundant bits of memory by a special type

of dreaming process. It seems to be the opposite to 'repetition and

rehearsal' - a kind of 'interference - cancellation'.

Then there is www.dreamhealer.com Everyone should read Adam's book.

Cheers,

Sammy.

[attiliodalberto]

09 October 2003 22:27

Chinese Medicine

Quality sleep 'rescues memories'

Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3175088.stm

Even facts " forgotten " by people during a busy day may be retrieved

if this is followed by a good night's sleep.

Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to

remember simple words.

Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the

day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could

recall much more.

Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain

could " rescue " lost memories during the night.

When the brain is first asked to remember something, that memory is

laid down in an " unstable " state, meaning that it is possible that

it could be lost.

At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important into

a " stable " , more permanent state.

However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for

a " stable " memory to be made " unstable " again - simply by the act of

recalling it.

This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away

again in the face of new experiences.

Speech test

The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created

through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to

understand.

Initially, the written version of the word was available, but

afterwards the volunteers were asked to identify the word from the

audio version only.

Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to

tail off as the day ended.

However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night's

sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had " forgotten "

the previous evening.

Dr Daniel Margoliash, one of the study authors, said: " Sleep

consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent

interference or decay.

" Sleep also appears to 'recover' or restore memories. "

He said: " If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively

recover what has been lost. "

Mental pruning

Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill

University in Montreal, said: " Memory research is undergoing a

transformation - no longer is memory thought to be a hard-wiring of

the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and re-

storage.

" Sleep helps some memories 'mature' and also prunes out unimportant

memories. "

Good point about the Shen. Any comments?

Attilio

October 10, 2003

Attilio,

This is great stuff. I've been more or less guiding my physiology students

toward these considerations for 14 years. Especially significant is that no

tissue repair and maintenance occurs in the absence of growth hormone. GH is

only released during sleep. Also the second messenger hormones (somatomedins)

of the liver do most of the work under GH stimulation. That means you can not

be sleeping off a large dose of alcohol for sleep to be restorative. This is

part of a large subtext of my year long anatomy/physiology course at Merritt

College. Other parts of the subtext include " good stress " versus " bad stress " .

That takes a long essay to explain. An important detail is that memory studies

show that long term memory requires " consolidation " which only happens during

sleep.

In gratitude,

Emmanuel Segmen

Merritt College

-

Chinese Medicine

Thursday, October 09, 2003 2:27 PM

Quality sleep 'rescues memories'

Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3175088.stm

Even facts " forgotten " by people during a busy day may be retrieved

if this is followed by a good night's sleep.

Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to

remember simple words.

Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the

day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could

recall much more.

Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain

could " rescue " lost memories during the night.

When the brain is first asked to remember something, that memory is

laid down in an " unstable " state, meaning that it is possible that

it could be lost.

At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important into

a " stable " , more permanent state.

However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for

a " stable " memory to be made " unstable " again - simply by the act of

recalling it.

This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away

again in the face of new experiences.

Speech test

The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created

through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to

understand.

Initially, the written version of the word was available, but

afterwards the volunteers were asked to identify the word from the

audio version only.

Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to

tail off as the day ended.

However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night's

sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had " forgotten "

the previous evening.

Dr Daniel Margoliash, one of the study authors, said: " Sleep

consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent

interference or decay.

" Sleep also appears to 'recover' or restore memories. "

He said: " If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively

recover what has been lost. "

Mental pruning

Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill

University in Montreal, said: " Memory research is undergoing a

transformation - no longer is memory thought to be a hard-wiring of

the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and re-

storage.

" Sleep helps some memories 'mature' and also prunes out unimportant

memories. "

Good point about the Shen. Any comments?

Attilio

October 10, 2003

Attilio, Emmanuel,

This is the reason why in my treatment of " fibromyalgia " , poor sleep

is the first sign I treat. Without good sleep there's no healing from

chronic pain for the same reasons you've stated below.

Regards,

Fernando

Chinese Medicine , " Emmanuel

Segmen " <susegmen@i...> wrote:

> Attilio,

>

> This is great stuff. I've been more or less guiding my physiology

students toward these considerations for 14 years. Especially

significant is that no tissue repair and maintenance occurs in the

absence of growth hormone. GH is only released during sleep. Also

the second messenger hormones (somatomedins) of the liver do most of

the work under GH stimulation. That means you can not be sleeping

off a large dose of alcohol for sleep to be restorative. This is

part of a large subtext of my year long anatomy/physiology course at

Merritt College. Other parts of the subtext include " good stress "

versus " bad stress " . That takes a long essay to explain. An

important detail is that memory studies show that long term memory

requires " consolidation " which only happens during sleep.

>

> In gratitude,

> Emmanuel Segmen

> Merritt College

>

> -

>

> Chinese Medicine

> Thursday, October 09, 2003 2:27 PM

> Quality sleep 'rescues memories'

>

> Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3175088.stm

>

> Even facts " forgotten " by people during a busy day may be

retrieved

> if this is followed by a good night's sleep.

> Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to

> remember simple words.

>

> Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of

the

> day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could

> recall much more.

>

> Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain

> could " rescue " lost memories during the night.

>

> When the brain is first asked to remember something, that memory

is

> laid down in an " unstable " state, meaning that it is possible

that

> it could be lost.

>

> At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important

into

> a " stable " , more permanent state.

>

> However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible

for

> a " stable " memory to be made " unstable " again - simply by the act

of

> recalling it.

>

> This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away

> again in the face of new experiences.

>

> Speech test

>

> The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words

created

> through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to

> understand.

>

> Initially, the written version of the word was available, but

> afterwards the volunteers were asked to identify the word from

the

> audio version only.

>

> Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended

to

> tail off as the day ended.

>

> However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night's

> sleep, they were able to recall some words that they

had " forgotten "

> the previous evening.

>

> Dr Daniel Margoliash, one of the study authors, said: " Sleep

> consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent

> interference or decay.

>

> " Sleep also appears to 'recover' or restore memories. "

>

> He said: " If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might

actively

> recover what has been lost. "

>

> Mental pruning

>

> Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill

> University in Montreal, said: " Memory research is undergoing a

> transformation - no longer is memory thought to be a hard-wiring

of

> the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and re-

> storage.

>

> " Sleep helps some memories 'mature' and also prunes out

unimportant

> memories. "

>

> Good point about the Shen. Any comments?

>

> Attilio

>

October 11, 2003

Thanks Fernando,

Healing from chronic pain is one that I'll have to add to my long list of sleep

related perspectives. I guess this falls (in part) into the tissue repair and

maintenance category. CM professors along with subspecialty of internal

medicine professors made me look at sleep as the place where we do our " heavy

lifting " with regard to the parasympathetic systems of bodily maintenance,

growth and repair. Daytime " good stress " like CM or joyful activities

stimulate the night time changes. Bad stress like arguments, injury, worry and

frustrating or laborious activities turn off the night time changes.

Thanks again,