Different Patterns of Sleep-Dependent Procedural Memory Consolidation in Vipassana Meditation Practitioners and Non-meditating Controls

Abstract

Aim: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and sleep spindles are all implicated in the consolidation of procedural memories. Relative contributions of sleep stages and sleep spindles were previously shown to depend on individual differences in task processing. However, no studies to our knowledge have focused on individual differences in experience with Vipassana meditation as related to sleep. Vipassana meditation is a form of mental training that enhances proprioceptive and somatic awareness and alters attentional style. The goal of this study was to examine a potential role for Vipassana meditation experience in sleep-dependent procedural memory consolidation. Methods: Groups of Vipassana meditation practitioners (N = 22) and matched meditation-naïve controls (N = 20) slept for a daytime nap in the laboratory. Before and after the nap they completed a procedural task on the Wii Fit balance platform. Results: Meditators performed slightly better on the task before the nap, but the two groups improved similarly after sleep. The groups showed different patterns of sleepdependent procedural memory consolidation: in meditators, task learning was positively correlated with density of slow occipital spindles, while in controls task improvement was positively associated with time in REM sleep. Sleep efficiency and sleep architecture did not differ between groups. Meditation practitioners, however, had a lower density of occipital slow sleep spindles than controls. Conclusion: Results suggest that neuroplastic changes associated with meditation practice may alter overall sleep microarchitecture and reorganize sleep-dependent patterns of memory consolidation. The lower density of occipital spindles in meditators may mean that meditation practice compensates for some of the memory functions of sleep.

A Single Session of Mindfulness Meditation Expedites Immediate Motor Memory Consolidation to Improve Wakeful Offline Learning

“…Despite post-training meditation failing to establish a distinct benefit for sleep-dependent motor consolidation as compared to control, as expected, the offline improvements in both groups exhibited from training to post-sleep test supports a wealth of research in favor of sleep-dependent gains in performance (Diekelmann & Born, 2010). As mentioned, research by Solomonova et al (2020) investigated whether meditation practice changes the neurobiological qualities of sleep-dependent memory consolidation by comparing the performance of experienced Vipassana meditators with meditation naïve individuals on a procedural balance task. Though both groups experienced improved performance as anticipated via sleep, the way in which these improvements arose were distinct.…”

“…Though both groups experienced improved performance as anticipated via sleep, the way in which these improvements arose were distinct. The experienced meditators improvements were correlated with occipital spindle density in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, however the controls task improvements were correlated with increased time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (Solomonova et al, 2020). The authors note that previous training on attending to bodily states and stimuli might generate a different neurobiological way of learning which might help explain previous findings showing an enhanced level of attention is associated with improved motor performance (Hazeltine et al, 1997).…”

“…Research involving meditation practitioners and sleepdependent procedural consolidation attribute improvements in task performance to a lower density of occipital sleep spindles in meditators, whereas in non-meditators, offline gains were associated with an increased time spent in REM sleep. This suggests meditation practice might offer different sleepdependent consolidation patterns to those of non-meditators (Solomonova et al, 2020). Given what is known about sleep as a promoter for offline improvements in motor behaviours, it is evident that further research incorporating a meditation intervention to test motor memory consolidation following a period of sleep is required.…”

Does Meditation Improve Cognition Through Sleep?

“…The fact that meditation has been found to improve cognitive performance in the absence of sleep, aligns well with the theory that the meditative state itself may facilitate some of the restorative functions of sleep, which may ultimately lead to improved cognitive performance (Guerriero et al, 2019;Nagendra et al, 2012;Solomonova et al, 2020). These results further corroborate Guerriero et al's (2019) assertion that meditation might exert its overall influence on cognition through its ability to improve (and perhaps even mimic) restorative sleep.…”

“…The authors interpreted these findings as suggesting that meditation potentially induces a reorganization of sleep microarchitecture, which may lead to different patterns of sleep-dependent memory consolidation in experienced practitioners. They also suggested that meditation practice itself might compensate for the memory functions of sleep (Solomonova et al, 2020). Taking these various studies together, it becomes more plausible that meditation's effects on cognition may be mediated through sleep, as opposed to having any direct effects as is normally assumed.…”