Effects of
Daytime Food Intake on Memory Consolidation during Sleep or Sleep Deprivation
Abstract
Sleep
enhances memory consolidation. Bearing in mind that food intake produces many
metabolic signals that can influence memory processing in humans (e.g.,
insulin), the present study addressed the question as to whether the enhancing
effect of sleep on memory consolidation is affected by the amount of energy
consumed during the preceding daytime. Compared to sleep, nocturnal wakefulness
has been shown to impair memory consolidation in humans. Thus, a second
question was to examine whether the impaired memory consolidation associated
with sleep deprivation (SD) could be compensated by increased daytime energy
consumption. To these aims, 14 healthy normal-weight men learned a finger
tapping sequence (procedural memory) and a list of semantically associated word
pairs (declarative memory). After the learning period, standardized meals were
administered, equaling either ~50% or ~150% of the estimated daily energy
expenditure. In the morning, after sleep or wakefulness, memory consolidation
was tested.
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