Abstract
Current behavioural evidence indicates that sleep plays a central role in memory consolidation. Neural events during post-learning sleep share key features with both early and late stages of memory consolidation. For example, recent studies have shown neuronal changes during post-learning sleep which reflect early synaptic changes associated with consolidation, including activation of shared intracellular pathways and modifications of synaptic strength. Sleep may also play a role in later stages of consolidation involving propagation of memory traces throughout the brain. However, to date the precise molecular and physiological aspects of sleep required for this process remain unknown. The behavioural effects of sleep may be mediated by the large-scale, global changes in neuronal activity, synchrony and intracellular communication that accompany this vigilance state, or by synapse-specific ‘replay’ of activity patterns associated with prior learning.