REM sleep enhances emotional memories, study shows | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › REM sleep enhances emotional memories, study shows REM sleep enhances emotional memories, study shows Published: December 17, 2012 Author: Brittany Collins Jessica Payne Witnessing a car wreck or encountering a poisonous snake are scenes that become etched in our memories. But how do we process and store these emotional scenes so that they’re preserved more efficiently than other, more neutral memories? In a new study published recently in “Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience,” University of Notre Dame researchers Jessica Payne and Alexis Chambers found that people who experienced rapid eye movement (REM) sleep soon after being presented with an emotionally-charged negative scene — a wrecked car on a street, for example — had superior memory for the emotional object compared to subjects whose sleep was delayed for at least 16 hours. This increased memory for the emotional object corresponded with a diminished memory for the neutral background of the scene, such as the street on which the wrecked car was parked. These results suggest that the sleeping brain preserves in long-term memory only those scenes that are emotionally salient and aid in adaptation. “Our results suggest that REM sleep, which has long been thought to play a role in emotional processing and emotional memory, helps us selectively preserve in memory only what is most important and perhaps beneficial to survival,” says Payne, a Notre Dame assistant professor of psychology who specializes in sleep’s impact on memory, creativity and the ability to process new ideas. We know that emotional events occupy a privileged position in our memories — they shape our personalities, represent defeats and achievements, mark milestones in our lives and often drive anxiety and mood disorders. This study shows that the sleeping brain doesn’t just consolidate all recently encountered information. It appears to select for consolidation only the most emotional part of the experience, and the evidence suggests that REM sleep critically modulates memory for highly arousing emotional information. Contact: Jessica Payne, 574-631-1636, jpayne7@nd.edu Posted In: Research Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 05, 2022 Astrophysicists find evidence for the presence of the first stars October 04, 2022 NIH awards $4 million grant to psychologists researching suicide prevention September 29, 2022 Notre Dame, Ukrainian Catholic University launch three new research grants September 27, 2022 Notre Dame, Trinity College Dublin engineers join to advance novel treatment for cystic fibrosis September 22, 2022 Climate-prepared countries are losing ground, latest ND-GAIN index shows For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn