A widely accepted view in memory research is that recently stored information can be reactivated during sleep, leading to memory strengthening. Two recent studies have shown that this effect can be reversed in participants with highly disrupted sleep. To test whether weakening of reactivated memories can result directly from sleep disruption, in this experiment we varied the intensity of memory reactivation cues such that some produced sleep arousals. Prior to sleep, participants (local community members) learned the locations of 75 objects, each accompanied by a sound naturally associated with that object. Location recall was tested before and after sleep, and a subset of the sounds was presented during sleep to provoke reactivation of the corresponding locations. Reactivation with sleep arousal weakened memories, unlike the improvement typically found after reactivation without sleep arousal. We conclude that reactivated memories can be selectively weakened during sleep, and that memory reactivation may strengthen or weaken memories depending on additional factors such as concurrent sleep disruption.

中文翻译：

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记忆线索导致的睡眠中断会选择性地削弱重新激活的记忆

记忆研究中广泛接受的观点是，最近存储的信息可以在睡眠期间重新激活，从而增强记忆力。最近的两项研究表明，睡眠严重中断的参与者可以逆转这种影响。为了测试重新激活记忆的减弱是否直接由睡眠中断引起，在这个实验中，我们改变了记忆重新激活线索的强度，以便一些产生睡眠觉醒。在睡觉之前，参与者（当地社区成员）了解了 75 个物体的位置，每个物体都伴随着与该物体自然相关的声音。位置回忆在睡眠前后进行了测试，并且在睡眠期间呈现了一部分声音以引起相应位置的重新激活。睡眠觉醒的重新激活削弱了记忆，与通常在没有睡眠觉醒的情况下重新激活后发现的改善不同。我们得出结论，重新激活的记忆可以在睡眠期间有选择地减弱，并且记忆重新激活可能会增强或削弱记忆，具体取决于同时发生的睡眠中断等其他因素。