PNAS: Why does memory worsen after staying up late?

We all know that staying up late is very harmful

We all know that staying up late is very harmful

 

 

In August 2021, the University of Michigan published an article in PNAS magazine

In August 2021, the University of Michigan published an article in PNAS magazine

Previous studies have shown that after a few hours of study, there will be a sensitive time window during which you must sleep to fully consolidate the memories generated by previous studies

At this time, the neuron activity in the hippocampus must remain undisturbed, and the neurons must also remain undisturbed

First, the research team studied the interaction between sleep and wakefulness, hippocampal neuronal activity, and activity-driven phosphorylation of ribosomal S6 protein, which is a component of ribosomes responsible for protein translation

The research team gave the rats a fear stimulus

But when these mice were deprived of sleep, their phosphorylation levels throughout the hippocampus dropped

Next, the research team tried to investigate whether this activity-driven reduction of ribosomal S6 protein phosphorylation would have a similar effect on all neurons after lack of sleep

The research team used bioinformatics to compare the abundance of mRNA related to phosphorylated S6 protein ribosomes, and tested the mRNA expression profile before sleep and under non-sleep conditions

The research team observed that after sleep deprivation, the abundance of an RNA transcript increased significantly, and this transcript was only present in interneurons that express the neuropeptide somatostatin and the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA

This indicates that the greater activity between somatostatin-containing interneurons inhibits peripheral neurons, thereby inhibiting the overall hippocampal ribosomal S6 phosphorylation, as a gate to slow down its activation

Then, the research team conducted further studies on mice, and they found that when this inhibitory gate mechanism is simulated in free-sleeping mice, it can disrupt hippocampal activity and memory consolidation

This research opens new doors to further study how the relative balance between excitatory and inhibitory neuronal activity affects memory and sleep

This research also reminds us that proper rest or sleep after a period of study can better consolidate memory

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