Rapid eye movement sleep deprivation disrupts consolidation but not reconsolidation of novel object recognition memory in rats

There is increasing evidence that sleep plays a critical role in memory consolidation. However, there are comparatively few studies that have assessed the relationship between sleep and memory reconsolidation. In the present study, we explored the effects of rapid eye movement sleep deprivation (RSD) on the consolidation (experiment 1) and reconsolidation (experiment 2) of novel object recognition memory in rats. In experiment 1 behavioral procedure involved two training phases: sample and test. Rats were subjected to 6h RSD starting either immediately after sample (exposed to 2 objects) or 6h later. In experiment 2 behavioral procedure involved three training phases: sample, reactivation and test. Rats were subjected to 6h RSD starting either immediately after reactivation (exposed to the same 2 sample objects to reactivate the memory trace) or 6h later. Results from experiment 1 showed that post-sample RSD from 0 to 6h but not 6 to 12h disrupted novel object recognition memory consolidation. However, we found that post-reactivation RSD whether from 0 to 6h or 6 to 12h had no effect on novel object recognition memory reconsolidation in experiment 2. The results indicated that RSD selectively disrupted consolidation of novel object recognition memory, suggesting a dissociation effect of RSD on consolidation and reconsolidation.