Sleep Deprivation Impairs the Brain’s Ability to Suppress Unwanted Memories

Study reveals crucial role of REM sleep in memory control.
Sleep Deprivation Impairs the Brain’s Ability to Suppress Unwanted Memories
Stock-Asso/Shutterstock
|Updated:
0:00

A sleepless night doesn’t just leave you tired—it may also make it harder to control unwanted memories, a recent study about sleep’s role in emotional memory has found.

The research, recently published in PNAS, highlights the crucial role that sleep—particularly rapid eye movement (REM) sleep—plays in managing emotional memories.
George Citroner
George Citroner
Author
George Citroner reports on health and medicine, covering topics that include cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions. He was awarded the Media Orthopaedic Reporting Excellence (MORE) award in 2020 for a story on osteoporosis risk in men.