Work

Sleep forms flexible context representations in toddlers

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Sleep consolidates episodic memory through a hippocampus-dependent process in adults. Whether and how sleep supports memory consolidation during early life, when hippocampal function is immature, remains unclear. Here, we examined effects of sleep on the consolidation of spatial context, a core component of episodic memory, in toddlers aged 2-3 years. Toddlers were familiarized with two spatial contexts, followed by a ~ 90-min nap or equivalent wake period. Afterwards, using a hide-and-seek game we tested their ability to relocate toys within these contexts. Only after post-familiarization sleep, toddlers showed significant context memory and formed stronger associations between toys and specific contexts compared to wakefulness. Contextual memory was positively correlated with spindle density and slow oscillation-spindle phase-amplitude coupling during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Here, we show that, despite hippocampal immaturity, memory effects in the sleeping toddler's brain are accompanied by thalamo-cortical oscillatory dynamics that are also implicated in adult memory consolidation.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-78303-4

Authors: Lisa Bastian, Eva-Maria Kurz, Lilli Gutjahr, Hannes Noack, Jan Born

Institutions: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Tübingen, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Tübingen, German Center for Diabetes Research, Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit

Language: English

Topic: Sleep and Wakefulness Research

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $6,990