Nature and Science of Sleep

The Role of Sleep in Selectively Consolidating Memories Based on Their Perceived Future Relevance During Encoding

Many studies have found that sleep has a beneficial effect on memory consolidation compared to wake. Beyond that, many have claimed that during sleep, memories with perceived high future relevance are preferentially consolidated. Recently, however, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found that this selective consolidation effect of sleep is not as large as has been claimed, and might not even exist at all. It has also been suggested that different forms of memories are consolidated during different stages of sleep. This Article Collection examines whether sleep (compared to wake) preferentially consolidates memories based on their perceived future relevance.