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Behavioral and Neural Effects of Disrupted Sleep on Lexical-Semantic Integration of New Words
Poster Session E, Friday, October 2, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm, Wangari Maathai
This poster is part of the Sandbox Series.
Andriana Sabov1,2, Marina Laganaro1, Sophie Schwartz2; 1Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva
Vocabulary learning is a process spanning a lifetime of an individual. According to current models of memory consolidation, the transfer of new memories into long-term storage depends on the precise coordination of slow oscillations (SOs), thalamic spindles, and hippocampal ripples during slow-wave sleep (SWS). With ageing, however, SO amplitude decreases and spindles lose their tight coupling to SOs, impairing hippocampal–neocortical communication and weakening memory consolidation. The present within-participants study investigates how SWS modulation influences lexical learning, with a focus on the integration of novel words into lexical-semantic networks. Young neurotypical adults learn sets of rare, previously unknown words in their native language. Age-related changes in sleep architecture are mimicked by experimentally reducing the quality and propagation of SOs via closed-loop auditory stimulation on one of the two nights during laboratory sleep with polysomnography (PSG). The integration of new words into the vocabulary is assessed behaviourally (through accuracy and speed of production of newly learned items on a Picture-Word Interference task), as well as neurally (through BOLD activation during a Picture Naming task in the fMRI). Additionally, the changes in sleep architecture are examined and related to behavioural outcomes. We expect that words learned before a night with SO suppression are not integrated into the lexical-semantic network to the same extent as words learned prior to a normal, unperturbed night of sleep. We additionally expect that the retrieval of the integrated words will be supported by the neocortical areas (IFG, left MTG), while the retrieval of the not integrated words will be reliant on the hippocampus. Data acquisition started recently, and we plan to present partial sample analyses in September. By modelling age-related sleep disruption in young adults, this study provides new insights into the role of SWS in supporting vocabulary learning and lexical-semantic consolidation.
Topic Areas: Meaning: Lexical Semantics,