# REM Sleep and Memory

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $380,776

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The importance of sleep in the memory consolidation process is well accepted and well studied in males. We
have generated a good understanding of how neural activity patterns during specific stages of sleep facilitate
strengthening, weakening, and reorganization of memory networks. We and others have found that, rapid eye
movement (REM) sleep duration and the strength of the theta rhythm, the featured pattern of electrical activity
common in REM sleep, contributes to memory processing. One of the important regulators of REM sleep for
memory consolidation is the nucleus locus coeruleus in the brainstem which falls silent and thereby allows the
depotentiation of synapses necessary for reversal learning. Although the presence of norepinephrine during
waking encourages strengthening of synapses, its presence in REM sleep may be maladaptive in the case
where new information must be integrated into an old memory schema. Work in our lab has identified the
important role of locus coeruleus silence during REM sleep for proper reversal learning. Other features of sleep
are also important in learning. However it is entirely unknown whether the locus coeruleus also falls silent in
REM sleep in females. Estrogen receptors are found on the locus coeruleus, providing a set-limit function on
reactivity to stressful stimuli. Cycling gonadal hormones (like estrogen) also seem to affect sleep quality in
humans. We seek to investigate how sleep and locus coeruleus activity is modified across the estrus cycle in
females, and see how changes in these parameters might influence mechanisms of memory consolidation in
sleep, using a fear conditioning, extinction, and extinction recall learning paradigm dependent on hippocampal
learning and on sleep consolidation. Given that females are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders, we want to
determine if inappropriate LC activity during sleep, particularly during low hormone phases, contributes to fear
memory consolidation deficits. The fundamental discoveries made in this grant period should provide
groundbreaking knowledge in how the estrous cycle alters sleep features and brain areas that are important in
learning so that future advances can be made in addressing mental health in females.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10024073
- **Project number:** 5R01MH060670-18
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Gina R Poe
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $380,776
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2000-03-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10024073

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10024073, REM Sleep and Memory (5R01MH060670-18). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10024073. Licensed CC0.

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