No difference between slow oscillation up- and down-state cueing for memory consolidation during sleep.

The beneficial effects of sleep for memory consolidation are assumed to rely on the reactivation of memories in conjunction with the coordinated interplay of sleep rhythms like slow oscillations and spindles. Specifically, slow oscillations are assumed to provide the temporal frame for spindles to occur in the slow oscillations up-states, enabling a redistribution of reactivated information within hippocampal-neocortical networks for long-term storage. Memory reactivation can also be triggered externally by presenting learning-associated cues (like odours or sounds) during sleep, but it is presently unclear whether there is an optimal time-window for the presentation of such cues in relation to the phase of the slow oscillations.