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Effect of a Motor Learning Task on REM Sleep Parameters
Daniel Erlacher, Ph.D. and Michael Schredl, Ph.D.
Previous research has shown that learning of procedural tasks enhance REM sleep. An
experiment in which eleven subjects either learned a motor task or engaged in a
control task was carried out in a balanced within-design to investigate whether motor
learning would affect sleep. An initial laboratory adaptation night and two
experimental nights were consecutive. The results indicate that learning a motor task
exerts no effect on REM sleep parameters and, therefore, the results do no support
the hypothesis that learning a procedural skill is related to an increase in REM sleep
parameters. One might speculate that the motor learning was not intense enough in
comparison to other studies. In future studies, other motor tasks should be applied.
| Keywords: Motor learning, procedural memory, REM sleep |
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