The effect of sleep and wakefulness on factual memory: a study with wearable polysomnography

Among the various functions attributed to sleep, memory consolidation is one of the least questioned. On the contrary, the ideal time window between encoding and night sleep needed to consolidate – especially when declarative memory is assessed – is still a matter of debate. To further contribute to this topic, this study evaluates the effect of both sleep and wakefulness on the consolidation of factual information, to highlight potential differences between these two conditions. Moreover, a possible positive effect of sleep on memory consolidation has been tested, to understand whether it remains stable after a subsequent period of wakefulness or whether a delayed sleep period could protect information from a further decay. To conclude, the relation between sleep macrostructure and memory performance has been explored.