Does Intentional Integration Influence the Fate of Memories When Reactivated During Sleep?

Poster Session E - Monday, March 9, 2026, 2:30 – 4:30 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballrooms

Hannah Ross¹, Emma Ruvalcaba¹, Matt Babb¹, Andrew Loehr¹, Josh Tarica¹, Kelly Bennion¹, Aidan Horner², Eitan Schechtman³, James Antony¹; ¹California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, ²University of York, ³University of California, Irvine

Memory consolidation occurs primarily through neural “replay” of experienced events, a process which researchers have manipulated by playing event-related cues during sleep [a technique called targeted memory reactivation (TMR)]. TMR has been instrumental in the study of memory consolidation, as it provides some degree of control over which memories are replayed. However, which information is ultimately retained varies widely based on the method by which it was learned. Past research indicates that similar memories with overlapping material can be strengthened or weakened by TMR, depending on how the information is initially learned. In this ongoing study, we predict that intentionally integrating information during learning will improve memory for overlapping material and alter their fate when reactivated during sleep. Participants learned partially overlapping A-B, A-C word pairs either with or without instructions to integrate the pairs, after which they were reactivated during sleep via TMR. After sleep, they were tested on both learned (e.g., A-B and A-C) and inference associations (B-C). We have collected 28 out of 40 anticipated participants. Initial trends show neither an overall effect of cuing on learned (p = 0.5) or inference associations (p = 0.14) nor a cueing effect difference between conditions (both p > 0.6).  In sum, this study explores the interplay of intention and memory complexity on consolidation, having implications for memory research and applications of TMR in educational and clinical settings. 

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic