Increased periodic arousal fluctuations during non-REM sleep are associated to superior memory

Sleep has been implicated in the plastic cerebral changes that underlie learning and memory. The scientific investigation of people with exceptional memory has been relatively neglected. We report the results of a polysomnographic investigation of an individual with superior memory performance. The sleep structure, in terms of sleep induction and maintenance, as well as non-REM and REM sleep percentages, were normal. The main finding was an increased number of periodic arousal fluctuations during non-REM sleep (measured as cyclic alternating pattern, CAP) during two consecutive nights (7-8 S.D. units above that observed in age-matched controls). Since CAP rate reflects the structural organization of non-REM sleep, this observation supports the hypothesis of a link between non-REM sleep and declarative memory performance. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.