NREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidation

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dc.contributor.advisorNjomboro, Progressen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMcCreesh, Siobhanen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-21T14:14:46Z
dc.date.available2017-08-21T14:14:46Z
dc.date.issued2017en_ZA
dc.description.abstractPrevious research shows that slow wave sleep (SWS) and sleep spindles play an essential role in declarative memory consolidation. However, this role is not well understood in the ageing women. With advancing age, SWS and sleep spindles undergo significant decreases in duration and density, while there is a simultaneous decline in declarative memory. The primary aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between sleep architecture, sleep spindle activity, and declarative memory retention in two groups of women: 14 younger (M = 20.5±1.28 years) and 14 older females (M = 63.14±2.03 years). Participants underwent polysomnography on a baseline and experimental night and encoded a list of word-pairs of graded difficulty on the experimental night. Word-pair type included integrative, concrete and low concrete measures. Memory retention was then assessed pre- and post-sleep. Our results confirm the characteristic age-related decrease in SWS and sleep spindle activity in older adults. In the older group, SWS positively correlated with concrete word-pair retention, while spindle density and the number of spindles positively correlated with overall retention. In addition, the percentage change in spindle density, slow and fast density, and fast intensity from baseline to experimental night positively correlated with low concrete word-pairs. Finally, in the younger group, the number of spindles positively correlated with low concrete word-pairs and the percentage change in fast and slow spindle intensity correlated with concrete word-pair retention. Although younger women recalled more word-pairs than older women in both conditions, memory retention was largely preserved in both groups after sleep.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMcCreesh, S. (2017). <i>NREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidation</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24913en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMcCreesh, Siobhan. <i>"NREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidation."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24913en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMcCreesh, S. 2017. NREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidation. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - McCreesh, Siobhan AB - Previous research shows that slow wave sleep (SWS) and sleep spindles play an essential role in declarative memory consolidation. However, this role is not well understood in the ageing women. With advancing age, SWS and sleep spindles undergo significant decreases in duration and density, while there is a simultaneous decline in declarative memory. The primary aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between sleep architecture, sleep spindle activity, and declarative memory retention in two groups of women: 14 younger (M = 20.5±1.28 years) and 14 older females (M = 63.14±2.03 years). Participants underwent polysomnography on a baseline and experimental night and encoded a list of word-pairs of graded difficulty on the experimental night. Word-pair type included integrative, concrete and low concrete measures. Memory retention was then assessed pre- and post-sleep. Our results confirm the characteristic age-related decrease in SWS and sleep spindle activity in older adults. In the older group, SWS positively correlated with concrete word-pair retention, while spindle density and the number of spindles positively correlated with overall retention. In addition, the percentage change in spindle density, slow and fast density, and fast intensity from baseline to experimental night positively correlated with low concrete word-pairs. Finally, in the younger group, the number of spindles positively correlated with low concrete word-pairs and the percentage change in fast and slow spindle intensity correlated with concrete word-pair retention. Although younger women recalled more word-pairs than older women in both conditions, memory retention was largely preserved in both groups after sleep. DA - 2017 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2017 T1 - NREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidation TI - NREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidation UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24913 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/24913
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMcCreesh S. NREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidation. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2017 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24913en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Psychologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPsychologyen_ZA
dc.titleNREM sleep spindles and slow wave sleep in younger and elderly women: an investigation of their influence on declarative memory consolidationen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMSocScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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