If a person does not sleep well, what happens to memory?

When an individual does not sleep well, the process of memory consolidation can be significantly impaired. During sleep, especially during rapid eye movement (REM) and deep sleep stages, the brain works to transfer short-term memories into long-term storage. This is crucial for learning and retaining information effectively.

When sleep is inadequate, the brain struggles to perform this essential transfer process, leading to difficulties in recalling newly acquired short-term memories. These memories may not be effectively integrated or stored, resulting in challenges when trying to access them later. Therefore, the correct understanding is that poor sleep directly affects the transition of short-term memories to long-term memories, diminishing overall memory function.

Other choices like all memories becoming vivid, long-term memories sharpening, or memory remaining unaffected do not accurately reflect the interactions between sleep quality and memory processes as established by cognitive neuroscience research.