Day 30 of 150 Memory Difficulty 10/10

Slow-wave sleep consolidates declarative memory

Quick answer

Slow-wave sleep consolidates declarative memory. Today's question (Memory consolidation in sleep) asks about a finding from Diekelmann, S., & Born, J. in 2010. The correct option is Hippocampus-dependent declarative memory — full explanation, primary source, and glossary cross-links below.

Today's question

Reviews of sleep-and-memory research indicate that slow-wave (deep) sleep is most strongly implicated in consolidating which memory type?

  1. A Procedural motor skills
  2. B Hippocampus-dependent declarative memory
  3. C Working memory only
  4. D Sensory iconic memory
Reveal the answer and explanation

Correct: B — Hippocampus-dependent declarative memory

Diekelmann & Born's (2010) Nature Reviews Neuroscience synthesis of two decades of sleep-and-memory data argued that slow-wave sleep replays hippocampal activity, transferring declarative memories (facts, events) to neocortical storage. REM sleep, by contrast, is more strongly linked to procedural and emotional memory consolidation. The "active systems consolidation" model is the dominant framework for why sleep loss degrades next-day learning.

About the source

Diekelmann, S., & Born, J. (2010). The memory function of sleep. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(2), 114–126.

Every Cognition Bible question cites a primary source — a paper, book chapter, or monograph that exists, that we can point to on Google Scholar, and whose finding the question accurately summarizes. No fabricated authority strings, no name-drops without paper-level grounding.

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