Abstract
The process of stabilizing a memory trace after initial encoding is called memory consolidation. In the learning of a motor sequence (sequence learning), memory consolidation has a function to reorganize the representation of a learned sequence, which results in improvement of motor performance. We investigated whether the memory consolidation by blocking information inputs after learning would also reorganize memory representation. Additionally, we investigated the memory consolidation in inhibitory learning, the learning of inhibitory control such as negative priming. In the experiment, each subject performed normal and inhibitory sequence learning. Subsequently, he/she took a rest with minimum information inputs for 10 minutes in order to induce memory consolidation. The results showed that, a wakeful 10-minutes rest improved motor performance in normal learning, which suggests that the representation of normally learned sequence was reorganized during the rest. On the other hand, inhibitory learning did not occur, which requires further investigation.
