Sleep Deprivation and Memory: Meta-analytic Reviews of Studies on Sleep Deprivation Before and After Learning

Overview

Journal Psychol Bull

Publisher American Psychological Association

Specialty Psychology

Date 2022 Mar 3

PMID 35238586

Authors

Chloe R Newbury

Rebecca Crowley

Kathleen Rastle

Jakke Tamminen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Research suggests that sleep deprivation both before and after encoding has a detrimental effect on memory for newly learned material. However, there is as yet no quantitative analyses of the size of these effects. We conducted two meta-analyses of studies published between 1970 and 2020 that investigated effects of total, acute sleep deprivation on memory (i.e., at least one full night of sleep deprivation): one for deprivation occurring before learning and one for deprivation occurring after learning. The impact of sleep deprivation after learning on memory was associated with Hedges' g = 0.277, 95% CI [0.177, 0.377]. Whether testing took place immediately after deprivation or after recovery sleep moderated the effect, with significantly larger effects observed in immediate tests. Procedural memory tasks also showed significantly larger effects than declarative memory tasks. The impact of sleep deprivation before learning was associated with Hedges' g = 0.621, 95% CI [0.473, 0.769]. Egger's tests for funnel plot asymmetry suggested significant publication bias in both meta-analyses. Statistical power was very low in most of the analyzed studies. Highly powered, preregistered replications are needed to estimate the underlying effect sizes more precisely. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Citing Articles

Investigating the Relationship Between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Academic Performance in the Adolescent Population: The EHDLA Study.

Lopez-Gil J, Cisneros-Vasquez E, Olivares-Arancibia J, Yanez-Sepulveda R, Gutierrez-Espinoza H Nutrients. 2025; 17(3).

PMID: 39940382 PMC: 11819819. DOI: 10.3390/nu17030524.

Role of the amygdala opioid system in the effects of stress on the post-learning sleep patterns of male Wistar rats.

Graily-Afra M, Bahrami F, Bahari Z, Sahraei H, Shankayi Z, Gharib A Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2025; 28(3):283-291.

PMID: 39906619 PMC: 11790187. DOI: 10.22038/ijbms.2024.79291.17266.

Cognitive benefits of sleep: a narrative review to explore the relevance of glucose regulation.

De Longis E, Kassis A, Remond-Derbez N, Thota R, Darimont C, Donato-Capel L Sleep Adv. 2025; 6(1):zpae095.

PMID: 39850251 PMC: 11756301. DOI: 10.1093/sleepadvances/zpae095.

Individualized rTMS Intervention Targeting Sleep Deprivation-Induced Vigilance Decline: Task fMRI-Guided Approach.

Zhu Y, Wang C, Xu Z, Guo F, Chang Y, Liu J CNS Neurosci Ther. 2024; 30(11):e70087.

PMID: 39539093 PMC: 11561304. DOI: 10.1111/cns.70087.

The Complex Interaction Between Sleep-Related Information, Misinformation, and Sleep Health: Call for Comprehensive Research on Sleep Infodemiology and Infoveillance.

Bragazzi N, Garbarino S JMIR Infodemiology. 2024; 4:e57748.

PMID: 39475424 PMC: 11681283. DOI: 10.2196/57748.

References

Payne J, Stickgold R, Swanberg K, Kensinger E . Sleep preferentially enhances memory for emotional components of scenes. Psychol Sci. 2008; 19(8):781-8. PMC: 5846336. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02157.x. View

Mander B, Santhanam S, Saletin J, Walker M . Wake deterioration and sleep restoration of human learning. Curr Biol. 2011; 21(5):R183-4. PMC: 3093247. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.01.019. View

Stickgold R, Walker M . Sleep-dependent memory triage: evolving generalization through selective processing. Nat Neurosci. 2013; 16(2):139-45. PMC: 5826623. DOI: 10.1038/nn.3303. View

Tempesta D, Socci V, Coppo M, Dello Ioio G, Nepa V, De Gennaro L . The effect of sleep deprivation on the encoding of contextual and non-contextual aspects of emotional memory. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2016; 131:9-17. DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.03.007. View

Fenn K, Gallo D, Margoliash D, Roediger 3rd H, Nusbaum H . Reduced false memory after sleep. Learn Mem. 2009; 16(9):509-13. DOI: 10.1101/lm.1500808. View

Lim J, Dinges D . Sleep deprivation and vigilant attention. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008; 1129:305-22. DOI: 10.1196/annals.1417.002. View

Payne J, Kensinger E, Wamsley E, Nathan Spreng R, Alger S, Gibler K . Napping and the selective consolidation of negative aspects of scenes. Emotion. 2015; 15(2):176-86. PMC: 5846328. DOI: 10.1037/a0038683. View

Higgins J, Thompson S . Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. Stat Med. 2002; 21(11):1539-58. DOI: 10.1002/sim.1186. View

Falleti M, Maruff P, Collie A, Darby D, McStephen M . Qualitative similarities in cognitive impairment associated with 24 h of sustained wakefulness and a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05%. J Sleep Res. 2003; 12(4):265-74. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2003.00363.x. View

10.

Ashton J, Cairney S, Gaskell M . No effect of targeted memory reactivation during slow-wave sleep on emotional recognition memory. J Sleep Res. 2017; 27(1):129-137. DOI: 10.1111/jsr.12542. View

11.

Occhionero M, Cicogna P, Esposito M . The Effect of Sleep Loss on Dual Time-Based Prospective Memory Tasks. Am J Psychol. 2018; 130(1):93-103. DOI: 10.5406/amerjpsyc.130.1.0093. View

12.

Lewis P, Durrant S . Overlapping memory replay during sleep builds cognitive schemata. Trends Cogn Sci. 2011; 15(8):343-51. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2011.06.004. View

13.

van der Werf Y, Altena E, Schoonheim M, Sanz-Arigita E, Vis J, De Rijke W . Sleep benefits subsequent hippocampal functioning. Nat Neurosci. 2009; 12(2):122-3. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2253. View

14.

Gais S, Lucas B, Born J . Sleep after learning aids memory recall. Learn Mem. 2006; 13(3):259-62. PMC: 10807868. DOI: 10.1101/lm.132106. View

15.

Harrison Y, Horne J . The impact of sleep deprivation on decision making: a review. J Exp Psychol Appl. 2000; 6(3):236-49. DOI: 10.1037//1076-898x.6.3.236. View

16.

Yoo S, Hu P, Gujar N, Jolesz F, Walker M . A deficit in the ability to form new human memories without sleep. Nat Neurosci. 2007; 10(3):385-92. DOI: 10.1038/nn1851. View

17.

McClelland J, McNaughton B, OReilly R . Why there are complementary learning systems in the hippocampus and neocortex: insights from the successes and failures of connectionist models of learning and memory. Psychol Rev. 1995; 102(3):419-457. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.102.3.419. View

18.

Born J, Wilhelm I . System consolidation of memory during sleep. Psychol Res. 2011; 76(2):192-203. PMC: 3278619. DOI: 10.1007/s00426-011-0335-6. View

19.

Fischer S, Hallschmid M, Elsner A, Born J . Sleep forms memory for finger skills. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99(18):11987-91. PMC: 129381. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.182178199. View

20.

Diekelmann S, Landolt H, Lahl O, Born J, Wagner U . Sleep loss produces false memories. PLoS One. 2008; 3(10):e3512. PMC: 2567433. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003512. View