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  • Greater sleep variance related to decrements in memory performance and event-specific neural similarity: a racially/ethnically diverse lifespan sample
Title: Greater sleep variance related to decrements in memory performance and event-specific neural similarity: a racially/ethnically diverse lifespan sample
Successful memory performance depends on overlap between neural representations at encoding and retrieval. With older age, neural similarity, memory performance, and sleep quality decline. Regardless of age, racial/ethnic minorities tend to experience poor sleep, which may contribute to poor memory. Previous studies have not investigated memory performance, neural similarity, sleep quality, and age in diverse participants. Here, we recruited racially/ethnically diverse adults across the lifespan and examined night-to-night sleep quality in relation to memory performance and encoding-retrieval similarity. We employed item-specific, representational similarity analysis (not confounded by effort, word perception, or differences in electroencephalography signal amplitude) to assess neural similarity for intact and recombined paired associates. Greater sleep variance and poorer memory performance were more strongly associated with older age. Interestingly, sleep variance was positively associated with neural similarity for intact pairs. This relationship was stronger with younger age and for racial/ethnic minorities. For recombined pairs, greater sleep variance was associated with reduced neural similarity. Thus, varied sleep may induce greater reliance on familiarity, while consistent sleep may support recollection.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2152492
PAR ID:
10453062
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Neurobiology of aging
Volume:
117
ISSN:
0197-4580
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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