The role of rem sleep in the formation of emotional false memory - An experimental study using deese-roediger-mcdermott (DRM) paradigm

Jiefan Ling, Forrest Tin Wai Cheung, Wanqi Sun, Xiaobo Yang, Jiaxin Wei, Xiaoqing Hu, Shirley Xin Li

Abstract

Introduction Sleep is associated with memory consolidation as well as memory distortions and errors. The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, a list-learning task, has been used as an experimental measure of false memories. There remained conflicting evidence on whether sleep was associated with enhanced false memories as assessed by the DRM. To better understand the role of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in the formation of false memories, especially of emotional content, we tested an emotional DRM using a sleep deprivation paradigm.

Materials and Methods Healthy young adults were recruited to undergo either 7.5-hour overnight sleep measured by polysomnography (N = 40, Age: 20.36 ± 1.3, Female N = 20, 50%) or one overnight of acute sleep deprivation (N = 26, Age: 20.23 ± 1.68, Female N = 16, 61.5%), and completed the DRM procedure during the experimental period (22:00 in the evening for recoding and 8:00 the next day morning for free recall). Words recalled in the DRM were scored into studied words, theme words, and intrusions in negative and neutral valence.

Results There were no significant differences in the total recall of studied words and theme words, but sleep-deprived participants had less total and neutral intrusions at the margin of significance (p = 0.066 and 0.052 respectively). Amongst sleep participants, total sleep time (TST) was positively associated with neutral intrusions (p < 0.05); REM latency was negatively associated with total recalled words, total studied words, total negative words, and negative studied words (p < 0.05). Percentage of REM duration was negatively associated with the percentage of total negative words recalled (p < 0.05), and positively associated with the percentage of total neutral words recalled (p < 0.05).

Conclusion We found that overnight sleep, instead of sleep deprivation, was associated with more memory errors. There were significant negative associations of REM sleep characteristics with the recollection of emotionally negative words, suggesting that REM sleep might facilitate forgetting or block the recollection of negative memory. Future studies are required to further investigate the mechanisms underlying the emotional-biased memory processing driven by REM sleep.

Recommended citation: Ling, J., Cheung, T. W. F., Sun, W., Yang, X., Wei, J., Hu, X., & Li, S. X. (2019). The role of rem sleep in the formation of emotional false memory-an experimental study using deese-roediger-mcdermott (DRM) paradigm. Sleep Medicine, 64, S228.