The effect of complex cognitive training on subsequent night sleep

Abstract

The role of wake "intensity" in sleep regulation has been put forward more than 40 years ago in the frame of the "homeostasis model of delta sleep" (Feinberg, 1974). According to this model, sleep homeostasis would be determined not only by wake duration but also by the intensity of waking brain activity, which in turn depends on the quantity and quality of physical and cognitive activity carried out during wake. This idea received initial support from animal studies showing increases in slow-wave sleep (SWS) after experimental manipulations of cerebral metabolic rate during wakefulness (

Sleep enhances strategic thinking at the expense of basic procedural skills consolidation

“…Although the limited sample size (and relative low power for a correlational analysis) necessitates caution in the interpretation of this result, the observed associations support the importance of sleep continuity, especially that of slow wave sleep (SWS), for off‐line memory reprocessing. This finding is in line with previous data suggesting that an undisturbed sleep episode is required for consolidation to proceed effectively (Arzilli et al, 2019; Cerasuolo et al, 2019; Conte, Carobbi, Errico, & Ficca, 2012; Kirov, Kolev, Verleger, & Yordanova, 2015; Sergeeva, Viczko, Ray, Owen, & Fogel, 2017) and with studies indicating an involvement of SWS in memory reorganization processes (Durrant et al, 2011; Yordanova, Kolev, Wagner, & Verleger, 2009). However, considering the multi‐componential nature of the task, it is not possible to interpret these correlations as indicating the involvement of SWS continuity in the consolidation of a specific cognitive skill activated by the task.…”

“…The task (Arzilli et al, 2019; Cerasuolo et al, 2019) was constructed as a slightly modified version of the common word game Ruzzle . In each round of the task (corresponding to one game), the subject has 2 min to trace on an iPad (by moving a finger on the touch screen) as many words as possible with the 16 letters available in a 4 × 4 grid.…”

“…In light of this, we have recently developed a multi‐componential learning task (a modified version of the common word game Ruzzle ) (Arzilli et al, 2019; Cerasuolo et al, 2019), which engages different simultaneous cognitive processes. The task requires the subject to trace on a screen as many words as possible with 16 available letters, some of which represent bonuses that multiply the value of single letters or even of the entire words containing them.…”

Learning Monologues at Bedtime Improves Sleep Quality in Actors and Non-Actors

“…Quite surprisingly, however, this issue has never been purposefully and systematically addressed in sleep literature. In other words, after Feinberg’s pioneering work, very few studies have specifically aimed to manipulate waking activity to assess subsequent sleep changes (e.g., [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]), despite the important implications of such an approach. A better understanding of the influence of wake intensity on sleep characteristics could contribute to refining existing models of sleep regulation and, from an applicative standpoint, could represent the basis for the construction of behavioral protocols aimed at manipulating waking activities in order to obtain desired changes in sleep [ 13 , 14 ].…”

“…For instance, spindle parameters appear consistently enhanced (e.g., [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]). Furthermore, it is particularly interesting that also sleep continuity and stability measures, traditionally considered as markers of sleep quality, frequently show improvements after wake content manipulation (e.g., [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 18 , 19 ]). These studies point to the intriguing possibility to reduce sleep fragmentation and instability through planned cognitive and behavioral interventions.…”