ReviewCognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience2026
The role of sleep in strengthening face learning and memory consolidation: A systematic review.
Review in Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation, particularly for complex, hippocampal-dependent tasks, such as associating faces with names. While numerous studies have examined the impact of sleep on memory, the specific effects on episodic face recognition, perceptual face processing, and the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear.
objectiveThus study was designed to systematically evaluate the role of sleep in face recognition memory, learning, and consolidation in humans.
methodsA systematic search of PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science identified English-language, peer-reviewed studies published up to February 5, 2026. The authors independently screened articles, extracted data, and cross-verified results. The review adhered to PRISMA guidelines to maintain methodological rigor and transparency.
resultsAcross 19 included studies, overnight sleep, post-learning sleep, and targeted naps showed the strongest benefits for face-related learning and memory, particularly in associative and hippocampal-dependent tasks, such as face-name and face-face memory. Slow-wave sleep/N3 and targeted memory reactivation were associated with improved cued face-name recall, while REM sleep and sleep spindles appeared to contribute to implicit face priming, emotional face memory, and adaptive face-learning processes. Sleep deprivation and sleep restriction generally impaired face-memory performance, particularly when tasks required episodic retrieval, associative binding, emotional discrimination, or sustained cognitive control. In contrast, simpler face-recognition or familiarity-based tasks showed weaker and less consistent sleep-related effects, often suggesting protection against forgetting or interference rather than robust memory enhancement.
conclusionsSleep mainly benefits face learning when tasks require binding, episodic retrieval, emotional processing, or consolidation, while simple familiarity recognition shows weaker effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42380545What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.