The study revealed that moments of calm can promote memory performance in general. It gives an insight into the underlying mechanisms. Things that are practised actively can be memorised better and stay remembered for longer. However, the researchers also assume that a reactivation of memory contents can happen spontaneously without external cause. To check this they tested 10 healthy subjects aged 24 by showing them various images.

Here they had to connect the images with previously shown spatial positions by remembering the orientation and position of a label for each of them. This task requires, amongst other things, activity in the visual cortex and the hippocampus. Then each proband spent the main investigation period in the MRI tube, resting and dozing.

Analysis using a computational algorithm showed that neural patterns that could be correlated to individual images recurred during rest periods and dozing. The more frequently an activity pattern occurred, the more accurate the recognition of the associated image by the probands.

The scientists concluded that neural patterns can repeat spontaneously, promoting the formation of permanent memory contents. The study also shows that moments of relaxation can promote memory performance in general.

The study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience:
Lorena Deuker, L., Olligs, J., Fell, J., Kranz, TA, Mormann, F., Monday, C., Reuter, M., Elger, C. E. & Axmacher, N. (2013): Memory consolidation by replay of stimulus-specific neural activity. The Journal for Neuroscience, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0414-13.2013