Traumatic memories could reduce through sleep deprivation

In contrast to previously held beliefs, preliminary work from researchers at The University of Oxford (UK) has recently indicated that sleep deprivation may actually aid in preventing individuals from consolidating memories of trauma. The work was published in the journal Sleep. The study, which was carried out at the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute (Oxford, UK), exposed volunteers to emotional film clips and analyzed their responses following varying levels of sleep. Kate Porcheret, from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (Oxford, UK) explained: “We wanted to see what effect sleep deprivation would have on the development of intrusive memories –...