Post by UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences

💭 Memories replayed during sleep can be identified and decoded using artificial intelligence (AI) according to a new study co-authored by UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology scientists. Researchers based in the UK and China, including lead author Zhongtao Chen, a second year PhD student at the UCL Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing, have developed an AI model that can interpret brain activity during sleep, providing new insight into how the brain reactivates and consolidates memories overnight. 🗣️ Professor Ray Dolan, Director of Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and study co-author said: “We found rather than being random or chaotic, brain activity during sleep appears to reflect structured reactivation of meaningful information, such as memories or learned knowledge. This supports long-standing theories in neuroscience that sleep plays a central role in consolidating memories, helping the brain to stabilise and organise information gathered during the day.” 💬 Highlighting the potential impact of the work, co-author, Dr Marc Aurel Busche (UK Dementia Research Institute, UCL) added: “This study marks a significant advance in decoding brain activity. Gaining a better understanding of how the brain consolidates memories during sleep may inform treatments for conditions where this process is disrupted, including sleep disorders, depression, and neurodegenerative diseases.”