Strategies for reversal of deleterious effects of sleep deprivation on memory: is slow-wave sleep important?

• Grant number: 09/13080-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2010
• End date: February 29, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Deborah Suchecki
• Grantee: Simone Marie Ota
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 98/14303-3 - Center for Sleep Studies, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Many studies have shown the role of sleep on learning and memory processes. Most have focused primarily on the role of REM sleep in memory processes. However, electrophysiological and molecular data has also demonstrated the importance of slow-wave sleep (SWS). It is also believed that not only each stage, but the ordered sequence of PS and SOL is relevant to memory consolidation. The ordered sequence of these cycles can be impaired after paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD), because deprived animals present REM sleep rebound (at SOL cost) when sleeping is allowed. Research in our laboratory found that rats deprived of sleep for 96 hours prior to training presented impaired performance (24 hours after training) on multiple trial inhibitory avoidance (MTIA) test, although REM sleep increased between training and testing. In addition, the amount of SOL was directly correlated with the performance of animals. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to use drugs that increase time spent in SOL (lithium, gaboxadol and sodium oxybate), preventing the reduction caused by the PS rebound, and evaluate animal's performance on MTIA. If the impaired performance is cause by SOL reduction, it is expected that drugs that increase the amount of SOL reverse the memory impairment observed in sleep deprived rats. (AU)