Sleep States and Memory Processing in Rodents: A Review

CarlyleSmith That there is a relationship between sleep states and memory consolidation is now well established. Studies are now focused on exactly how sleep is related to other known memory mechanisms. Technological advances have allowed investigators to observe brain activity at the cellular and intracellular levels in various brain structures during sleep at different posttraining times. The experiments described provide detailed data at the electrophysiologic, neurophysiologic, and neurochemical levels. A comprehensive understanding of the exact nature of sleep-memory mechanisms requires the incorporation of all of these findings.