scholarly journals Autonomic Activity during a Daytime Nap Facilitates Working Memory Improvement

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1963-1974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pin-Chun Chen ◽  
Lauren N. Whitehurst ◽  
Mohsen Naji ◽  
Sara C. Mednick
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Parasympathetic Activity ◽  
Autonomic Activity ◽  
Autonomic Nervous ◽  
Operation Span ◽  
Cardiac Parasympathetic Activity ◽  
Daytime Nap

Recent investigations have implicated the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system in higher-order executive functions. These actions are purported to occur through autonomic nervous system's modulation of the pFC, with parasympathetic activity during wake associated with working memory (WM) ability. Compared with wake, sleep is a period with substantially greater parasympathetic tone. Recent work has reported that sleep may also contribute to improvement in WM. Here, we examined the role of cardiac parasympathetic activity during sleep on WM improvement in healthy young adults. Participants were tested in an operation span task in the morning and evening, and during the intertest period, participants experienced either a nap or wake. We measured high-frequency heart rate variability as an index of cardiac, parasympathetic activity during both wake and sleep. Participants showed the expected boost in parasympathetic activity during nap, compared with wake. Furthermore, parasympathetic activity during sleep, but not wake, was significantly correlated with WM improvement. Together, these results indicate that the natural boost in parasympathetic activity during sleep may benefit gains in prefrontal executive function in young adults. We present a conceptual model illustrating the interaction between sleep, autonomic activity, and prefrontal brain function and highlight open research questions that will facilitate understanding of the factors that contribute to executive abilities in young adults as well as in cognitive aging.

scholarly journals Autonomic activity during a daytime nap facilitates working memory improvement

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pin-Chun Chen ◽  
Lauren N. Whitehurst ◽  
Sara C. Mednick
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Parasympathetic Activity ◽  
Deep Sleep ◽  
Autonomic Activity ◽  
Cardiac Parasympathetic Activity

AbstractRecent investigations have implicated the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in higher-order executive functions. These actions are purported to occur through ANS’s modulation of the prefrontal cortex, with parasympathetic activity during wake associated with working memory ability (WM). Compared with wake, sleep is a period with substantially greater parasympathetic tone. Recent work has reported that sleep may also contribute to improvement in WM. Here, we examined the role of cardiac parasympathetic activity during sleep on WM improvement in healthy young adults. Participants were tested in an operation span task (OSpan) in the morning and evening, and during the inter-test period subjects either experienced a nap or wake. We measured high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV) as an index of cardiac, parasympathetic activity during both wake and sleep. Participants showed the expected boost in parasympathetic activity during nap, compared with wake, as well as greater WM improvement after a nap compared with an equivalent period awake. Furthermore, parasympathetic activity during sleep, but not wake, was significantly correlated with WM improvement. Together these results indicate that the natural boost in parasympathetic activity during sleep has substantial benefits to gains in prefrontal executive function in young adults. We present a conceptual model illustrating the interaction between sleep, autonomic activity, and prefrontal brain function, and highlight open research questions that will facilitate understanding of the factors that contribute to executive abilities in young adults, as well as in cognitive aging.Significance StatementRecently, the neurovisceral integration model has implicated activity on the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) during wake in executive functioning. Parasympathetic activity peaks during deep sleep, and sleep has been shown to facilitate executive functioning. Yet, the role of parasympathetic activity during sleep for executive functioning is not known. Herein, participants demonstrated increased parasympathetic activity during deep sleep, sleep-dependent WM improvement, and associations between performance gains and parasympathetic activity in sleep, not wake. Our conceptual model illustrates the interaction between sleep, autonomic activity, and prefrontal brain function that may contribute to executive abilities in young adults and to cognitive aging.

scholarly journals Autonomic/Central Coupling Boosts Working Memory in Healthy Young Adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pin-Chun Chen ◽  
Lauren N. Whitehurst ◽  
Mohsen Naji ◽  
Sara C. Mednick
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Slow Wave ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Slow Wave Sleep ◽  
Nrem Sleep ◽  
Operation Span ◽  
Temporal Coupling ◽  
With Memory

AbstractWorking memory (WM) is an executive function that can improve with training. However, the precise mechanism for this improvement is not known. Studies have shown greater WM gains after a period of sleep than a similar period of wake (Kuriyama et al. 2008a; Zinke, Noack, and Born 2018), with WM improvement correlated with slow wave activity (SWA; 0.5-1Hz) during slow wave sleep (SWS) (Sattari et al. 2019; Pugin et al. 2015; Ferrarelli et al. 2019). A different body of literature has suggested an important role for autonomic activity during wake for WM (Hansen et al. 2004; Mosley, Laborde, and Kavanagh 2018). A recent study from our group reported that the temporal coupling of autonomic and central events (ACEs) during sleep was associated with memory consolidation (Naji et al. 2019). We found that heart rate bursts (HR bursts) during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep are accompanied by increases in SWA and sigma (12-15Hz) power, as well as increases in the high-frequency (HF) component of the RR interval, reflecting vagal rebound. In addition, ACEs predict long-term, episodic memory improvement. Building on these previous results, we examined whether ACEs may also contribute to gains in WM. We tested 104 young adults in an operation span task (OSPAN) in the morning and evening, with either a nap (with electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG)) or wake between testing sessions. We identified HR bursts in the ECG and replicated the increases in SWA and sigma prior to peak of the HR burst, as well as vagal rebound after the peak. Furthermore, we showed sleep-dependent WM improvement, which was predicted by ACE activity. Using regression analyses, we discovered that significantly more variance in WM improvement could be explained with ACE variables than with overall sleep activity not time-locked with ECG. These results provide the first evidence that coordinated autonomic and central events play a significant role in sleep-related WM improvement and implicate the potential of autonomic interventions during sleep for cognitive enhancement.

Strategic and unpressured within-task planning and their associations with working memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaofeng Li ◽  
Mengxia Fu
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Operation Span ◽  
L2 Chinese ◽  
Task Conditions

This study investigated the comparative effects of strategic and unpressured within-task planning on second language (L2) Chinese oral production and the role of working memory in mediating the effects of the two types of planning. Twenty-nine L2 Chinese learners at a large New Zealand university performed a narrative task after watching a 6-minute silent movie, followed by an operation span test gauging the learners’ working memory capacity. The results revealed that (1) strategic planning enhanced fluency and unpressured within-task planning led to greater accuracy and syntactic complexity, (2) strategic planning facilitated the production of a syntactically transparent structure, while unpressured within-task planning showed an advantage for opaque, complex structures, and (3) working memory was drawn upon in unpressured within-task planning, but barely so in strategic planning. The data show that strategic planning benefits the Conceptualizer while unpressured within-task planning favors the Formulator. The data also suggest that the role of cognitive abilities in task performance is contingent upon the processing demands of different task conditions.

Effects of bright light and melatonin on sleep propensity, temperature, and cardiac activity at night

2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 1214-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen J. Burgess ◽  
Tracey Sletten ◽  
Natasha Savic ◽  
Saul S. Gilbert ◽  
Drew Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Cardiac Activity ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Parasympathetic Activity ◽  
Sleep Onset Latency ◽  
Autonomic Activity ◽  
Sinus Arrhythmia ◽  
Wake Time ◽  
Cardiac Parasympathetic Activity ◽  
Peripheral Temperature

Melatonin increases sleepiness, decreases core temperature, and increases peripheral temperature in humans. Melatonin may produce these effects by activating peripheral receptors or altering autonomic activity. The latter hypothesis was investigated in 16 supine subjects. Three conditions were created by using bright light and exogenous melatonin: normal endogenous, suppressed, and pharmacological melatonin levels. Data during wakefulness from 1.5 h before to 2.5 h after each subject's estimated melatonin onset (wake time + 14 h) were analyzed. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (cardiac parasympathetic activity) and preejection period (cardiac sympathetic activity) did not vary among conditions. Pharmacological melatonin levels significantly decreased systolic blood pressure [5.75 ± 1.65 (SE) mmHg] but did not significantly change heart rate. Suppressed melatonin significantly increased rectal temperature (0.27 ± 0.06°C), decreased foot temperature (1.98 ± 0.70°C), and increased sleep onset latency (5.53 ± 1.87 min). Thus melatonin does not significantly alter cardiac autonomic activity and instead may bind to peripheral receptors in the vasculature and heart. Furthermore, increases in cardiac parasympathetic activity before normal nighttime sleep cannot be attributed to the concomitant increase in endogenous melatonin.

scholarly journals INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING THROUGH VIEWING VIDEO

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 749-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maribel Montero Perez
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
New Words ◽  
Operation Span ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary

AbstractThere is growing evidence that L2 learners pick up new words while viewing video but little is known about the role of individual differences. This study explores incidental learning after viewing a French documentary containing 15 pseudowords and investigates whether learning is moderated by participants’ prior vocabulary knowledge and working memory. Sixty-three higher-intermediate learners of French participated in this study. Prior vocabulary knowledge was measured by means of a French meaning recognition test. Participants also took a forward digit-span (phonological short-term memory), a backward digit-span, and an operation-span task (complex working memory). After viewing the video, four surprise vocabulary tests on form and meaning were administered. Results revealed that learning gains occurred at the level of form and meaning recognition. Vocabulary knowledge was positively related to picking up new words from video. Complex working memory correlated with the recognition tests showing more incidental learning gains for learners with higher complex working memory.

scholarly journals Cardiac autonomic activity during daytime nap in young adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Cellini ◽  
Jacopo Torre ◽  
Luciano Stegagno ◽  
Michela Sarlo
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Autonomic Activity ◽  
Daytime Nap ◽  
Cardiac Autonomic Activity

scholarly journals A Daytime Nap Enhances Visual Working Memory Performance and Alters Event-Related Delay Activity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin John MacDonald ◽  
Holly A. Lockhart ◽  
Alex C. Storace ◽  
Stephen Emrich ◽  
Kimberly A. Cote
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Mixed Effect Models ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
Daytime Nap

Working memory (WM) is impaired following sleep loss and may be improved after a nap. The goal of the current study was to better understand sleep-related WM enhancement by: 1) employing a WM task that assesses the ability to hold and report visual representations as well as the fidelity of the reports on a fine scale, 2) investigating neurophysiological properties of sleep and WM capacity as potential predictors or moderators of sleep-related enhancement, and 3) exploring frontal and occipital event-related delay activity to index the neural processing of stimuli in WM. In a within-subjects design, thirty-six young adults (Mage = 20, 20 men, 16 women) completed a 300-trial, continuous-report task of visual WM following a 90-min nap opportunity and an equivalent period of wakefulness. Mixed-effect models were used to estimate the odds of successful WM reports and the fidelity of those reports. The odds of a successful report were approximately equal between nap and wake conditions at the start of the task, but by the end, the odds of success were 1.26 times greater in the nap condition. Successful WM reports were more accurate after a nap, independent of time on task. Neither WM capacity nor any of the sleep variables measured were found to significantly moderate the nap effect on WM. Lastly, amplitude of frontal and occipital delay activity was altered in the nap relative to the wake condition. The findings are discussed in relation to the role of sleep in sustained attention and contemporary models of visual WM.

scholarly journals Age-related losses in cardiac autonomic activity during a daytime nap

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pin-Chun Chen ◽  
Negin Sattari ◽  
Lauren N. Whitehurst ◽  
Sara C. Mednick
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Nrem Sleep ◽  
Parasympathetic Activity ◽  
Total Power ◽  
Autonomic Activity ◽  
Daytime Sleep ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Daytime Nap ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cardiac Autonomic Activity

AbstractIn healthy, young individuals, a reduction in cardiovascular output and a shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic (vagal) dominance is observed from wake into stages of nocturnal and daytime sleep. This cardiac autonomic profile, measured by heart rate variability (HRV), has been associated with significant benefits for cardiovascular health. Aging is associated with decreased nighttime sleep quality and lower parasympathetic activity during both sleep and resting. However, it is not known whether age-related dampening of HRV extends to daytime sleep, diminishing the cardiovascular benefits of naps in the elderly. Here, we investigated this question by comparing the autonomic activity profile between young and older healthy adults during a daytime nap and a similar period of wakefulness (quiet wake; QW). For each condition, from the electrocardiogram (ECG), we obtained beat-to-beat HRV intervals (RR), root mean square of successive differences between adjacent heart-beat-intervals (RMSSD), high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF) power and total power (TP), HF normalized units (HFnu), and the LF/HF ratio. As previously reported, young subjects showed a parasympathetic dominance during NREM, compared with REM, pre-nap rest, and WASO. On the other hand, older, compared to younger, adults showed significantly lower vagally-mediated HRV (measured by RMSSD, HF, HFnu) during NREM. Interestingly, however, no age-related differences were detected during pre-nap rest or QW. Altogether, our findings suggest a sleep-specific reduction in parasympathetic modulation that is unique to NREM sleep in older adults.Impact StatementSleep is naturally modulated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), with greater dominance of parasympathetic over sympathetic activity during non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep. As such, sleep has been termed a “cardiovascular holiday” and has been associated with positive health outcomes. Aging, however, is linked to decreases in cardiac autonomic activity and sympathovagal imbalance. While the impact of aging on ANS activity during nocturnal sleep has received some attention, the cardiac profiles during a daytime nap, to our knowledge, have not yet been studied under the context of aging. Herein, young adults demonstrated increased parasympathetic activity during deep sleep. Older adults, however, showed less parasympathetic modulation during NREM sleep, suggesting loss of the cardiovascular holiday. Importantly, no age-related declines in parasympathetic activity were detected during wake, suggesting a sleep-specific reduction in parasympathetic modulation that is unique to NREM sleep in older adults.

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