4.6 Article

Learning during sleep in humans - A historical review

Journal

SLEEP MEDICINE REVIEWS
Volume 72, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

W B SAUNDERS CO LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2023.101852

Keywords

Learning; Sleep; Memory; Implicit memory; Explicit memory; Historical review; Language learning; Sleep-learning; Hypnopaedia; Hypnopedia

Ask authors/readers for more resources

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the history of sleep learning research conducted in humans, synthesizing the findings from 51 research papers. The results suggest that simpler forms of learning, such as habituation and conditioning, may be possible during sleep, while the findings for more complex, applied learning are more divergent. Behavioral evidence for the transfer of new knowledge to wake remains inconclusive, although neural markers often indicate processing and learning during sleep.
Sleep helps to consolidate previously acquired memories. Whether new information such as languages and other useful skills can also be learned during sleep has been debated for over a century, however, the sporadic studies' different objectives and varied methodologies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the history of sleep learning research conducted in humans, from its empirical beginnings in the 1940s to the present day. Synthesizing the findings from 51 research papers, we show that several studies support the notion that simpler forms of learning, such as habituation and conditioning, are possible during sleep. In contrast, the findings for more complex, applied learning (e.g., learning a new language during sleep) are more divergent. While there is often an indication of processing and learning during sleep when looking at neural markers, behavioral evidence for the transfer of new knowledge to wake remains inconclusive. We close by critically examining the limitations and assumptions that have contributed to the discrepancies in the literature and highlight promising new directions in the field.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available