DECRYPTION – A team of neuroscientists demonstrated that the consolidation of contextual memory takes place during a very specific phase of sleep, so as not to mix everything up.
If “the night gives advice”, it is not without foundation. It is during our sleep that the brain sorts through all the information that was collected during the waking phase. « We’re not sure how this all plays out precisely, but some memories fade while others are consolidated »explains Gabrielle Girardeau, Inserm researcher and head of the sleep and emotional memory team at the Sorbonne-Université neuroscience center (NeuroSU), in Paris.
And it is not a question of only reinforcing new memories to the detriment of old ones, which would be catastrophic for storing experience. « We consolidate both old memories and new experiences. We can sometimes associate them, when it is relevant, but we must not mix those which should not be mixed »adds the researcher.
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