Sleep and Memory
Over the last decades, research has established a central role of sleep for the formation of long-term memory. Sleep-dependent transformation of initially labile memory representations into more stable forms is accompanied by a reorganization process that not only improves memory quantitatively but also entails qualitative changes. Our research focusses on investigating the formation of abstracted, more general, memories representing the “gist” of experiences, which have been linked to the formation of cognitive schemata, problem-solving, predictive coding, gaining insight and creativity. We mainly examine these questions in healthy participants using behavioral and electroencephalographic techniques. Project Leader: Dr. rer. nat. Nicolas Lutz