Sleep consolidates procedural memory for motor skills, and this process is associated with strengthened functional connectivity in hippocampal–striatal–cortical areas. It is unknown whether similar processes occur for procedural memory that requires cognitive strategies needed for problem-solving. It is also unclear whether a full night of sleep is indeed necessary for consolidation to occur, compared with a daytime nap. We examined how resting-state functional connectivity within the hippocampal–striatal–cortical network differs after offline consolidation intervals of sleep, nap, or wake. Resting-state fMRI data were acquired immediately before and after training on a procedural problem-solving task that requires the acquisition of a novel cognitive strategy and immediately prior to the retest period (i.e., following the consolidation interval). ROI to ROI and seed to whole-brain functional connectivity analyses both specifically and consistently demonstrated strengthened hippocampal–prefrontal functional connectivity following a period of sleep versus wake. These results were associated with task-related gains in behavioral performance. Changes in functional communication were also observed between groups using the striatum as a seed. Here, we demonstrate that at the behavioral level, procedural strategies benefit from both a nap and a night of sleep. However, a full night of sleep is associated with enhanced functional communication between regions that support problem-solving skills.

中文翻译：

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睡眠加强了涉及巩固解决问题技能的大脑区域之间的静息状态功能交流

睡眠巩固了运动技能的程序记忆，这个过程与海马-纹状体-皮质区域的功能连接增强有关。目前尚不清楚类似的过程是否发生在需要解决问题所需的认知策略的程序记忆中。与白天小睡相比，整晚睡眠是否确实是巩固发生所必需的也不清楚。我们研究了在睡眠、午睡或清醒的离线巩固间隔后，海马-纹状体-皮质网络内的静息状态功能连接有何不同。静息态 fMRI 数据是在需要获得新的认知策略的程序性问题解决任务训练之前和之后立即获得的，并且紧接在重新测试期之前（即，在巩固间隔之后）。ROI 到 ROI 以及种子到全脑功能连通性分析都特别且一致地证明了经过一段时间的睡眠与清醒后海马-前额叶功能连通性得到加强。这些结果与行为表现中与任务相关的收益有关。使用纹状体作为种子的组之间也观察到功能交流的变化。在这里，我们证明在行为层面，程序性策略受益于午睡和一夜睡眠。然而，一整夜的睡眠与支持解决问题技能的区域之间增强的功能交流有关。