Faculty Profile

Center for Sleep and Cognition, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

My research seeks to describe the nature of cognition during sleep, and to explain the role of sleep in memory and emotional processing. My studies of sleep and memory have provided definitive evidence demonstrating the importance of sleep in learning and memory consolidation. Work in my laboratory has presented the first clear demonstrations that:
1) some forms of memory consolidation are absolutely dependent on post-training sleep
2) access to associative memories is altered during REM sleep
3) memory stabilization and enhancement can both occur "off-line," but in different wake-sleep states
4) stabilized memories in humans can be made labile by reactivation, and subsequently weakened through interference
5) in some cases, naps can provide as much benefit as a full night of sleep
6) specific sleep-dependent consolidation is absent in chronic, medicated schizophrenics and in cocaine addicts in withdrawal.
More recently we have been studying the role of sleep in probabilistic learning and declarative memory, as well as in moral decision making.

Our studies of dreaming have made important breakthroughs in this classically difficult field, and have provided the first demonstrations that:
1) episodic memories are not replayed in dreams
2) hypnagogic dreams are constructed without the help of the hippocampally mediated episodic memory system
3) two hours of sleep alters the content of hypnagogic dreams from near veridical replay of recent events to semantically associated imagery.
Our paper on hypnagogic dreaming published in Science was the first paper in that journal focusing on dreaming since 1968.

Ina Djonlagic MD 2003-2005
Jeffrey Ellenbogen, MD 2005-2007
Erin J. Wamsley, PhD 2008-present
Maryann Deak, MD 2009-present

Francis Neuhaus
Eric Shooter
J. Allan Hobson

NIH/NIMH, State-dependent aspects of cognition, PI: R. Stickgold

Mind,Brain, and Behavior 93 - Biology of Conscious States

Stickgold R. The simplest way to reboot your brain.
Harv Bus Rev. 2009 Oct;87(10):36, 138. [PMID: 19839445]

Payne JD, Schacter DL, Propper RE, Huang LW, Wamsley EJ, Tucker MA, Walker MP, Stickgold R. The role of sleep in false memory formation.
Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2009 Oct;92(3):327-34. Epub 2009 Apr 5. [PMID: 19348959]

Stickgold R. How do I remember? Let me count the ways.
Sleep Med Rev. 2009 Oct;13(5):305-8. Epub 2009 Aug 21. [PMID: 19699665]

Manoach DS, Thakkar KN, Stroynowski E, Ely A, McKinley SK, Wamsley E, Djonlagic I, Vangel MG, Goff DC, Stickgold R. Reduced overnight consolidation of procedural learning in chronic medicated schizophrenia is related to specific sleep stages.
J Psychiatr Res. 2009 Aug 7. [Epub ahead of print] [PMID:19665729]

Stickgold R, Wehrwein P. Sleep now, remember later.
Newsweek. 2009 Apr 27;153(17):56-7. [PMID: 19418973]

Pace-Schott EF, Hutcherson CA, Bemporad B, Morgan A, Kumar A, Hobson JA, Stickgold R. Failure to find executive function deficits following one night's total sleep deprivation in university students under naturalistic conditions.
Behav Sleep Med. 2009;7(3):136-63. [PMID: 19568965]

Manoach DS, Stickgold R. Does abnormal sleep impair memory consolidation in schizophrenia?
Front Hum Neurosci. 2009;3:21. Epub 2009 Sep 1. [PMID: 19750201]

Ellenbogen JM, Hulbert JC, Jiang Y, Stickgold R. The sleeping brain's influence on verbal memory: boosting resistance to interference.
PLoS One. 2009;4(1):e4117. Epub 2009 Jan 7. [PMID: 19127287]

Pace-Schott EF, Milad MR, Orr SP, Rauch SL, Stickgold R, Pitman RK. Sleep promotes generalization of extinction of conditioned fear.
Sleep. 2009 Jan 1;32(1):19-26. [PMID: 19189775]

Morgan PT, Pace-Schott EF, Sahul ZH, Coric V, Stickgold R, Malison RT. Sleep architecture, cocaine and visual learning.
Addiction. 2008 Aug;103(8):1344-52. [PMID: 18855824]

Payne JD, Stickgold R, Swanberg K, Kensinger EA. Sleep preferentially enhances memory for emotional components of scenes.
Psychol Sci. 2008 Aug;19(8):781-8. [PMID: 18816285]

Stickgold R. Sleep: the ebb and flow of memory consolidation.
Curr Biol. 2008 May 20;18(10):R423-5. [PMID: 18492473]

Pace-Schott EF, Morgan PT, Malison RT, Hart CL, Edgar C, Walker M, Stickgold R. Cocaine users differ from normals on cognitive tasks which show poorer performance during drug abstinence.
Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2008;34(1):109-21. [PMID: 18161649]

Stickgold R. Of sleep, memories and trauma.
Nat Neurosci. 2007 May;10(5):540-2. [PMID: 17453055]

Propper RE, Stickgold R, Keeley R, Christman SD. Is television traumatic? Dreams, stress, and media exposure in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.
Psychol Sci. 2007 Apr;18(4):334-40. [PMID: 17470259]

Stickgold R. Neuroscience: a memory boost while you sleep.
Nature. 2006 Nov 30;444(7119):559-60. [PMID: 17086196]

Ellenbogen JM, Hulbert JC, Stickgold R, Dinges DF, Stickgold R, Thompson-Schill SL. Interfering with theories of sleep and memory: Sleep, declarative memory and associative interference.
Current Biology. 2006 Jul 11;16(13):1290-4. [PMID: 16824917]

Morgan PT, Pace-Schott EF, Sahul ZH, Coric V, Stickgold R, Malison RT. Sleep, sleep-dependent procedural learning and vigilance in chronic cocaine users: Evidence for occult insomnia.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2006 May 20;82(3):238-49. Epub 2005 Nov 2. [PMID: 16260094]

Walker MP, R Stickgold, FA Jolesz, and S-S Yoo. The functional anatomy of sleep-dependent visual skill learning.
Cerebral Cortex. 2005 Nov;15(11):1666-75. Epub 2005 Feb 9. [PMID: 15703253]

Stickgold R. Sleep-dependent memory consolidation.
Nature. 2005 Oct 27;437(7063):1272-8. [PMID: 16251952]

Stickgold R and MP Walker. Memory consolidation and reconsolidation: what is the role of sleep?
Trends Neurosci. 2005 Aug;28(8):408-15. [PMID: 15979164]

Pace-Schott EF, R Stickgold, et al. Cognitive performance by humans during a smoked cocaine binge-abstinence cycle.
American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. 2005;31(4):571-91. [PMID: 16320435]

Walker MP, R Stickgold, et al. Sleep-dependent motor memory plasticity in the human brain.
Neuroscience. 2005;133(4):911-7. [PMID: 15964485]

Manoach DS, MS Cain, et al. A failure of sleep-dependent procedural learning in chronic, medicated schizophrenia.
Biological Psychiatry. 2004 Dec 15;56(12):951-6. [PMID:15601605]

Walker MP and R Stickgold. Sleep-dependent learning and memory consolidation.
Neuron. 2004 Sep 30;44(1):121-33. [PMID: 15450165]

Jacobs GD, EF Pace-Schott, R Stickgold, and MW Otto. Cognitive behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy for insomnia: a randomized controlled trial and direct comparison.
Arch Intern Med. 2004 Sep 27;164(17):1888-96. [PMID: 15451764]

Cantero JL, M Atienza, JR Madsen, and R Stickgold. Gamma EEG dynamics in neocortex and hippocampus during human wakefulness and sleep.
Neuroimage. 2004 Jul;22(3):1271-80. [PMID: 15219599]

Merabet LB, D Maguire, et al. Visual hallucinations during prolonged blindfolding in sighted subjects.
J Neuroophthalmol. 2004 Jun;24(2):109-13. [PMID: 15179062]

Fosse R, R Stickgold, and JA Hobson. Thinking and hallucinating: reciprocal changes in sleep.
Psychophysiology. 2004 Mar;41(2):298-305. [PMID: 15032995]

Walker MP, T Brakefield, JA Hobson, and R Stickgold. Dissociable stages of human memory consolidation and reconsolidation.
Nature. 2003 Oct 9;425(6958):616-20. [PMID: 14534587]

Walker MP, T Brakefield, et al. Sleep and the time course of motor skill learning.
Learn Mem. 2003 Jul-Aug;10(4):275-84. [PMID: 12888546]

Mednick S, K Nakayama, and R Stickgold. Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night.
Nat Neurosci. 2003 Jul;6(7):697-8. [PMID: 12819785]

Walker MP, C Liston, JA Hobson, and R Stickgold. Cognitive flexibility across the sleep-wake cycle: REM-sleep enhancement of anagram problem solving.
Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2002 Nov;14(3):317-24. [PMID: 12421655]

Mednick SC, K Nakayama, et al. The restorative effect of naps on perceptual deterioration.
Nat Neurosci. 2002 Jul;5(7):677-81. [PMID: 12032542]

Walker MP, T Brakefield, et al. Practice with sleep makes perfect: sleep-dependent motor skill learning.
Neuron. 2002 Jul 3;35(1):205-11. [PMID: 12123620]
 
Stickgold R. EMDR: a putative neurobiological mechanism of action.
J Clin Psychol. 2002 Jan;58(1):61-75. [PMID: 11748597]

Stickgold R, JA Hobson, R Fosse, and M Fosse. Sleep, learning, and dreams: off-line memory reprocessing.
Science. 2001 Nov 2;294(5544):1052-7. [PMID: 11691983]

Stickgold R, A Malia, et al. Brain-mind states: I. Longitudinal field study of sleep/wake factors influencing mentation report length.
Sleep. 2001 Mar 15;24(2):171-9. [PMID: 11247053] 

Stickgold R, L James, and JA Hobson. Visual discrimination learning requires sleep after training.
Nat Neurosci. 2000 Dec;3(12):1237-8. [PMID: 11100141]

Stickgold R, A Malia, et al. Replaying the game: hypnagogic images in normals and amnesics.
Science. 2000 Oct 13;290(5490):350-3. [PMID: 11030656]

Stickgold R, D Whidbee, et al. Visual discrimination task improvement: A multi-step process occurring during sleep.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2000 Mar;12(2):246-54. [PMID: 10771409]

Stickgold R, L Scott, C Rittenhouse, and JA Hobson. Sleep-induced changes in associative memory.
J Cogn Neurosci. 1999 Mar;11(2):182-93. [PMID: 10198133]

Reviews

Stickgold R, Walker MP. Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and reconsolidation.
Sleep Med. 2007 Jun;8(4):331-43. Epub 2007 Apr 30. Review. [PMID: 17470412]

Ellenbogen JM, Payne JD, Stickgold R. The role of sleep in declarative memory consolidation: passive, permissive, active or none?
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2006 Dec;16(6):716-22. Epub 2006 Nov 7. Review. [PMID: 17085038]

Walker MP, Stickgold R. Sleep, memory, and plasticity.
Annu Rev Psychol. 2006;57:139-66. Review. [PMID: 16318592]