Decay time of the auditory sensory memory trace during wakefulness and REM sleep

Author(s): Cantero, J. L., Gomez, C. M.

Journal/Book: Psychophysiology. 2000; 37: 40 West 20Th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA. Cambridge Univ Press. 485-493.

Abstract: In a repetitive auditory stimulus sequence, deviant infrequent tones typically elicit a component of auditory event-related potentials termed mismatch negativity (MMN). The elicitation of MMN is assumed to reflect the existence of a memory trace of the standard stimulus that has a decay time of about 10 s and is strengthened by repetition of the standards. The main aim of the present study was to test the decay time of the sensory memory trace during rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep vs. Wakefulness, as indexed by the MMN. Subjects were presented 10 tone trains, separated by 3. 6, or 9 a of silence, during waking and REM sleep. Each train consisted of 9 standards of 1000 Hz and 1 deviant of 2000 Hz that occulted at position 1, 2, 4, or 6. The waking deviants elicited a frontocentral negativity with a scalp topography equivalent to the MMN component. During REM sleep, the negative component showed the same scalp distribution only for the 3-s intertrain interval (ITI). In this brain state, the MMN amplitude was smaller and decreased with prolongation of the ITI. These results suggest a weaker sensory memory trace formation and a premature decay time of such a memory trace during REM sleep as compared with wakefulness.

Note: Article Atienza M, Lab Sueno & Cognic, Avenida de Andalucia 16, 1 D Izquierda, Seville 41005, SPAIN

Keyword(s): auditory event-related potentials; auditory sensory memory; REM sleep; memory trace; mismatch negativity; neuronal representation; sleep; humans; EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS; INTERMODAL SELECTIVE ATTENTION; MISMATCH NEGATIVITY MMN; STIMULUS DEVIANCE; MAGNETOENCEPHALOGRAPHIC RECORDINGS; ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNS; INVOLUNTARY ATTENTION; EVOKED-POTENTIALS; BRAIN POTENTIALS; VISUAL-STIMULI

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