Sleep and Memory in Infancy and Childhood
Gina Mason, Rebecca M. C. Spencer
Abstract
Sleep supports memory processing. In adults, memories are consolidated to a greater extent over an interval of sleep than over intervals spent awake. Behavioral evidence supports a benefit of sleep for memory consolidation in infants and children as well. While mechanistic studies are few, current evidence supports a role in memory consolidation for slow-wave sleep in particular. Mounting evidence suggests that these effects are modulated by brain development and may evolve from infancy to adulthood. Moreover, as reviewed here, sleep benefits in infancy and early childhood may be dependent on the type of learning and sleep bout (nap versus overnight). Understanding the typical development of sleep-related memory processing is critical to understanding compromised or atypical development and to informing sleep-focused interventions to improve memory during critical periods of learning across childhood.