Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Sleep loss hijacks brain's activity during learning

Sleep is crucial for consolidating our memories, and sleep deprivation has long been known to interfere with learning and memory. Now a new study shows that getting only half a night's sleep—as many medical workers and military personnel often do—hijacks the brain's ability to unlearn fear-related memories. That might put people at greater risk of conditions such as anxiety or posttraumatic stress disorder.