Poster #10 - Nap-Dependent Memory Consolidation for Episodic Declarative Memories in Preschool Children

• In Event: 3-106 - Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Section - Attention, Learning, Memory

Integrative Statement

Midday naps have been shown to benefit visuo-spatial memory. Specifically, in preschool-aged children, performance on a visuo-spatial learning task is improved following a midday nap (Kurdziel et al., 2013). Moreover, these nap-dependent changes in performance are associated with sleep spindles- bursts of brain activity visible in stage 2 non-REM sleep. Whether this nap-dependent performance benefit and associated sleep physiology generalizes to other declarative memory tasks remains unclear. In this study, we used polysomnography (PSG) and a storybook learning task to determine the role of midday naps on memory consolidation for episodic declarative memories in preschool-aged children.
Using a within-subject design, preschool children (36-71 months; N= 10) engaged in a novel story-based memory task involving four 10-page storybooks characterizing activities or events typical for a preschool child. Children participated in a sleep condition and a wake condition, separated by a week. In both conditions, children had their brain activity polysomnographically monitored. Each condition began with the experimenter reading two of the stories to the child. During immediate recall, children were given cards illustrating scenes from the story and asked to place the cards in the correct order without feedback. Subsequently, children were fixed with PSG equipment. In the sleep condition, children took a nap and in the wake condition, spent an equivalent amount of time engaging in quiet activities. Following the nap/wake interval, delayed recall was assessed by presenting children with the picture cards and asked to place them in the correct order. Recall was assessed again 24 hours following encoding.
Preliminary findings show recall following a 2-hr nap opportunity was greater than recall following an equivalent time spent awake (M = .70, SD = .18, p = .012). Further, this benefit from the nap persisted to the next day (M = .75, SD = .23, p = .009). No significant correlations were found between sleep stage and task performance.
Thus far, our results suggest that the consolidation of episodic declarative memories in preschool children is supported by midday naps. Considering this, the preschool nap opportunity may play an important role in early education.

Authors

• Sanna Lokhandwala, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca M. C. Spencer, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  Non-Presenting Author