Sleep has been shown to have numerous physical and mental health benefits, but new research suggests it may also help “erase” bad memories. I am.
This comes from researchers at the University of Hong Kong, which has introduced a procedure called “targeted memory reactivation” (TMR) that reactivates positive memories and weakens painful ones during sleep.
“Recalling painful or traumatic experiences is highly alarming,” the researchers wrote in their study published in the journal PNAS. “Sleep may offer an opportunity to alleviate such suffering.”
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“We developed a procedure that weakens old aversive memories by reactivating new positive ones during sleep.”
New research suggests sleep may help “erase” bad memories. (St. Petersburg)
In the study, a total of 37 participants were shown 48 “nonsense words” each paired with a different unpleasant image before going to bed at night.
The next evening, they were shown half of the words paired with positive images from four categories: animals, babies, people, and landscapes.
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During the following “non-rapid eye movement” sleep, the researchers introduced “auditory memory cues.”
When participants woke up, their memories of negative images decreased and their memories of positive images became stronger.
“Remembering painful or traumatic experiences can be highly anxiety-provoking,” the researchers wrote. “Sleep may offer an opportunity to alleviate such suffering.” (St. Petersburg)
“Our results are consistent with recent TMR studies showing that episodic forgetting can be triggered by reactivation of interfering memories during sleep,” the researchers wrote in the study. are.
“Going beyond previous research on neutral memories, our results show that TMR preferentially reactivates recently acquired positive memories and weakens older aversive memories, thereby altering the fate of emotional experiences. It suggests.”
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Dr. Ernest Lee Murray Board certified neurologist Doctors at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, pointed to TMR as a treatment for PTSD and other aversive (bad) memories.
“This is done by combining sensory cues with therapeutic interventions and re-presenting these cues at specific sleep stages,” Murray, who was not involved in the study, told FOX News Digital .
One sleep doctor says many patients report improved mood and anxiety when their sleep improves. (St. Petersburg)
The neurologist added that this treatment has been proven to reduce the emotional impact of aversive memories.
“This study shows not only that aversive memories are suppressed or weakened, but that patients do so by reactivating new positive memories while they sleep,” Dr. Murray said. Ta. “This opens the door to further research into ways to weaken trauma and other bad memories.”
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In addition to psychotherapy, he noted that medications are sometimes used to suppress nightmares and other aversive memories.
“This research continues to show ways to treat these conditions without the use of drugs that often have harmful side effects.”
“This research continues to show how to treat these conditions without the use of drugs that often have harmful side effects,” the sleep doctor said. (St. Petersburg)
Alex Dimitriou, M.D., a board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine physician and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine in California, was not involved in the study, but he also said that he is not involved in the study, but that it has shed new light on how the brain processes it. He said the content was “interesting.'' Memories while sleeping.
“Our brains are unpacking, processing, and repackaging emotions while we sleep,” he told FOX News Digital. “I've always suspected this, and I often tell my patients that sleep is like emotional therapy.”
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Many patients who see their doctors report that their mood and anxiety improve when they sleep better.
“There is evidence that a lot of emotional processing and rehearsal occurs, especially during REM sleep (dream sleep),” Dimitriu said. “However, in this study, the intervention occurred during non-REM sleep, showing that emotions are processed in other sleep stages as well.”
The process of using TMR to suppress negative emotions and strengthen positive memories can have a “huge impact” on people with depression and trauma, experts said. (St. Petersburg)
The process of using TMR to suppress negative emotions and strengthen positive memories can have a “huge impact” on people with depression and trauma, experts said.
“We look forward to seeing more research in this area. This essentially means we can learn and change while we sleep.”
Potential limitations
The researchers noted some limitations to the study.
“Our brains unpack, process, and repack our emotions while we sleep.”
“First, although our experiments aim to weaken aversive memories, the laboratory-induced emotional experience of viewing aversive/positive images mimics typical traumatic experiences. “It may not be the case,” the researchers wrote.
The researchers also noted that it can be difficult to find positives in highly traumatic experiences.
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“Future research should explore how to introduce positive interfering memories, such as positive autobiographical memories or therapy-related memories, to effectively attenuate real-life traumatic memories,” the researchers wrote. said.
“The role of REM sleep in regulating emotional memory will be further investigated,” the study authors wrote. (St. Petersburg)
“Second, the role of REM sleep in regulating emotional memory will be further investigated.”
This study received ethical approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Hong Kong.
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Funders include the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, among other grants.
Fox News Digital has reached out to researchers for comment.
