Modifying sleep with drugs: does it impact emotional episodic memory?

Diplôme Master Modifying sleep with drugs: does it impact emotional episodic memory? eng 2024-06-25 author Colin Laure Maria 973665 director Schwartz Sophie 0000-0001-7718-4053 35633 Département de neurosciences fondamentales (NEUFO) director Sterpenich Virginie 0000-0002-2125-833X 685195 Services communs du CISA (EMCO) Sleep plays a critical role in the consolidation of emotional memory. Sleep disruptions are also linked to emotion dysregulations and, in long-term, affective disorders. This study investigates how targeted modifications of Slow Wave sleep (SWS) and Rapid-Eye Movement (REM) sleep, induced by an antidepressant (Reboxetine, RBX) and a narcolepsy treatment (Sodium Oxybate, SXB), affect emotional episodic memory. Nineteen healthy men participated in a within-subject, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled protocol. Participants were asked to rate emotional images (negative, neutral and funny) while functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) recordings were made of their brain activity. After drug uptake, they were allowed to sleep at the lab under polysomnography recordings. The next day, participants had to retrieve the old images and discriminate them from new neutral and emotional ones. Our findings reveal that acute drug administration significantly alters sleep macro and micro architecture. Specifically, REM sleep duration was significantly decreased for both drugs while NREM sleep was enhanced. The relative sigma power was increased following RBX uptake. Subsequently, RBX reduced the positive impact of emotion on memory and altered the natural positive shift of valence ratings for negative images. At the brain level, the specificity of amygdala activation for negative pictures is decreased under RBX. While the hippocampal region is less capable of distinguishing new items under SXB, we do not observe a difference in memory performance. These results underscore the importance of the different sleep stages and associated neurotransmitter changes in emotional processing, and reenforce potential therapeutic targets of sleep for affective disorders. Sleep Emotional memory consolidation Sodium Oxybate Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) Reboxetine SNRI Antidepressant Functional Imaging Polysomnography Treatments Healthy Participants Rapid-Eye Movement sleep Slow Wave Sleep Dewey 128.37 Dewey 616.8 interdisciplinary master’s degree in Neuroscience 15 Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives 0D8 53 Département de neurosciences fondamentales 21A 16 Centre interfacultaire de neurosciences 0D9 false 495 Neuroimagerie du Sommeil et de la Cognition 832 2b635a43-2698-43e7-af8f-fe1227772718 Master thesis Restricted thesis_master_final.pdf 3565201 application/pdf Private 2026-03-31 f36ec10e0984bdc136463958156ad0abcf4cdce28ce8f9106a6839beb6e6c80f restrictedAccess Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire en sciences affectives Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine fondamentale / Département de neurosciences fondamentales Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire de neurosciences

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Modifying sleep with drugs: does it impact emotional episodic memory?				2024	81	1

Archive ouverte UNIGE

Colin, Laure

account_balance Affiliation entities

Research groups

Affiliation entities