Role of Sleep in the Formation of False Memory Using Category Associates

Many studies have documented sleep-modulated benefits for true memories, however; the role of sleep on false memories remains an understudied topic. Research investigating the relationship between nocturnal sleep and false memories suggests an increase in false memory post-sleep when compared to matched controls (sleep deprivation). A few studies have also reported non-significant or no role of sleep on false memories. Studies investigating relationship between sleep and false memories have previously used semantic associates as stimuli. The present study is an attempt to understand the role of sleep on false memories using category exemplars as stimuli. Additionally, the study also investigated the possible role of retrieval mode (recall, recognition) and retrieval interval (short, long). We believe that if sleep can influence the relationship between semantic associates, a similar pattern of result may exists for category associates. The results of the study report increase in false memories for post-learning sleep participants as compared with matched controls (sleep deprivation). Additionally, the study did not find significant differences in results across varied retrieval modes. False memories persisted for longer durations for post-learning sleep participants. Overall, the present study effectively established that category exemplars could be used in par with semantic exemplars for studying false memories under laboratory settings. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.