Sleep deprivation delays saccadic learning

Depending on the memory system tested, sleep has been shown to have different effects on memory consolidation. Up to now, only one task has been described in which any improvement after learning is postponed until after a sleep period. Here, we investigated the influence of sleep on performance changes related to training of saccadic eye movements. Subjects were trained in a prosaccade task (saccade to a visual target). Performance was tested in the prosaccade and the antisaccade task (saccade to opposite direction of the target) before training, after a night of sleep or sleep deprivation, after a night of reco…