PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Solano, Agustin
AU  - Lerner, Gonzalo
AU  - Griffa, Guillermina
AU  - Deleglise, Alvaro
AU  - Caffaro, Pedro
AU  - Riquelme, Luis
AU  - Perez-Chada, Daniel
AU  - Della-Maggiore, Valeria
TI  - Sleep consolidation potentiates sensorimotor adaptation
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0325-24.2024
DP  - 2024 Jul 19
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - e0325242024
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2024/07/22/JNEUROSCI.0325-24.2024.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2024/07/22/JNEUROSCI.0325-24.2024.full
AB  - Contrary to its well-established role in declarative learning, the impact of sleep on motor memory consolidation remains a subject of debate. Current literature suggests that while motor skill learning benefits from sleep, consolidation of sensorimotor adaptation (SMA) depends solely on the passage of time. This has led to the proposal that SMA may be an exception to other types of memories. Here, we addressed this ongoing controversy in humans through three comprehensive experiments using the visuomotor adaptation paradigm (N=290, 150 females). In Experiment 1, we investigated the impact of sleep on memory retention when the temporal gap between training and sleep was not controlled. In line with the previous literature, we found that memory consolidates with the passage of time. In Experiment 2, we used an anterograde interference protocol to determine the time window during which SMA memory is most fragile and, thus, potentially most sensitive to sleep intervention. Our results show that memory is most vulnerable during the initial hour post-training. Building on this insight, in Experiment 3 we investigated the impact of sleep when it coincided with the critical first hour of memory stabilization. This manipulation unveiled a benefit of sleep (30% memory enhancement) alongside an increase in spindle density and spindle-SO coupling during NREM sleep, two well-established neural markers of sleep consolidation. Our findings reconcile seemingly conflicting perspectives on the active role of sleep in motor learning and point to common mechanisms at the basis of memory formation.Significance statement While there is compelling evidence that sleep improves declarative memory, its role in the consolidation of motor memories remains a long-standing debate. For example, it is currently established that sensorimotor adaptation (SMA) consolidates with the passage of time, irrespective of sleep. This has led to the proposal that SMA may be an exception to other types of memories. Our findings indicate that SMA memories may indeed consolidate with both the passage of time and sleep, depending on the proximity between training and bedtime. Our work sheds light on this controversy and points to the existence of common mechanisms supporting consolidation across memory domains. Furthermore, it may impact rehabilitation programs, expediting motor injury recovery by aligning training sessions with sleep.