Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40161405›Full record

ReviewSleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society2025

REM refines and rescues memory representations: a new theory.

Alessandra E Shuster, Allison Morehouse, Elizabeth A McDevitt, Pin-Chun Chen, Lauren N Whitehurst, Jing Zhang, Negin Sattari, Tracy Uzoigwe, Ali Ekhlasi, Denise Cai and 3 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Invertebrate brains as diversified models for understanding sleep mechanisms and function.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Reflecting on 2025. Anticipating 2026.Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society · 2026
    Article
  6. Festschrift in honor of Dr. Robert Stickgold, pioneer in sleep, memory, and dream research.Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society · 2026
    Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Alessandra E ShusterDepartment of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Allison MorehouseDepartment of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Elizabeth A McDevittPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Pin-Chun ChenDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.
Lauren N WhitehurstDepartment of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Jing ZhangDepartment of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4452-5111
Negin SattariDepartment of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Tracy UzoigweDepartment of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Ali EkhlasiDepartment of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Denise CaiDepartment of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Katherine SimonDepartment of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Niels NiethardInstitute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany.
Sara C MednickDepartment of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0906-3097

Funding

The Impact of Sex Hormones on Sleep-Dependent Memory in Young and Midlife Men and WomenRF1AG061355 · NIA · SRI INTERNATIONAL · PI BAKER, FIONA C, MEDNICK, SARA CAROLE · 2019 to 2019
$4.8M
Circuit Mechanisms of Retrospective Memory-LinkingR01MH120162 · NIMH · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI Denise Jade Cai · 2020 to 2026
$3.9M
The role of insufficient sleep and depression on hippocampal-dependent memory trajectories across the adolescent transitionK08HD107161 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · PI Katharine Simon · 2022 to 2026
$798k
NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG061355NICHD NIH HHS K08 HD107161NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH120162
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite extensive evidence on the roles of nonrapid eye movement (NREM) and REM sleep in memory processing, a comprehensive model that integrates their complementary functions remains elusive due to a lack of mechanistic understanding of REM's role in offline memory processing. We present the REM Refining and Rescuing (RnR) Hypothesis, which posits that the principal function of REM sleep is to increase the signal-to-noise ratio within and across memory representations. As such, REM sleep selectively enhances essential nodes within a memory representation while inhibiting the majority (

Indexed as

autonomic nervous systemcognitive developmentcognitive functiondreamsfunctions of REM sleeplearning and memoryNREM-REM cyclesREM sleep

Identifiers

PMID40161405
PMCPMC11954447

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.