Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle coupling
Abstract Ripples, representing the compressed reactivation of environmental information, provide a mechanism for retaining memory information in chronological order and are also crucial for working memory (WM) during wakefulness. Brief sessions of physical activity (PA) are proposed to boost WM. In...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08618-3 |
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| author | Xinyun Che Benedikt Auer Paul Schmid Christoph Reichert Annemarie Scholz Tom Weischner Robert T. Knight Stefan Dürschmid |
| author_facet | Xinyun Che Benedikt Auer Paul Schmid Christoph Reichert Annemarie Scholz Tom Weischner Robert T. Knight Stefan Dürschmid |
| author_sort | Xinyun Che |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Ripples, representing the compressed reactivation of environmental information, provide a mechanism for retaining memory information in chronological order and are also crucial for working memory (WM) during wakefulness. Brief sessions of physical activity (PA) are proposed to boost WM. In concurrent EEG/MEG sessions, we investigated the role of PA in WM performance and high-frequency-ripple to wake spindle coupling. Ripples, identified in MEG sensors covering the medial temporal lobe (MTL) region, predicted individual WM performance. Ripples were locked to robust oscillatory patterns in the EEG defined spindle band. Wake spindle activity and ripples decrease during initial stimulus presentation and rebound after 1 sec. Behaviorally, PA enhanced WM performance. Neurophysiologically, PA scaled the ripple rate with the number of items to be kept in WM and strengthened the coupling between ripple events and wake spindle events. These findings reveal that PA modulates WM by coordinating ripple-spindle interaction. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-784d1ad7a8b048db8b547dc41d0b21ef |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2399-3642 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-784d1ad7a8b048db8b547dc41d0b21ef2025-08-20T03:46:24ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422025-08-018111110.1038/s42003-025-08618-3Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle couplingXinyun Che0Benedikt Auer1Paul Schmid2Christoph Reichert3Annemarie Scholz4Tom Weischner5Robert T. Knight6Stefan Dürschmid7Leibniz Institute for NeurobiologyLeibniz Institute for NeurobiologyLeibniz Institute for NeurobiologyLeibniz Institute for NeurobiologyLeibniz Institute for NeurobiologyLeibniz Institute for NeurobiologyDepartments of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of California BerkeleyLeibniz Institute for NeurobiologyAbstract Ripples, representing the compressed reactivation of environmental information, provide a mechanism for retaining memory information in chronological order and are also crucial for working memory (WM) during wakefulness. Brief sessions of physical activity (PA) are proposed to boost WM. In concurrent EEG/MEG sessions, we investigated the role of PA in WM performance and high-frequency-ripple to wake spindle coupling. Ripples, identified in MEG sensors covering the medial temporal lobe (MTL) region, predicted individual WM performance. Ripples were locked to robust oscillatory patterns in the EEG defined spindle band. Wake spindle activity and ripples decrease during initial stimulus presentation and rebound after 1 sec. Behaviorally, PA enhanced WM performance. Neurophysiologically, PA scaled the ripple rate with the number of items to be kept in WM and strengthened the coupling between ripple events and wake spindle events. These findings reveal that PA modulates WM by coordinating ripple-spindle interaction.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08618-3 |
| spellingShingle | Xinyun Che Benedikt Auer Paul Schmid Christoph Reichert Annemarie Scholz Tom Weischner Robert T. Knight Stefan Dürschmid Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle coupling Communications Biology |
| title | Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle coupling |
| title_full | Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle coupling |
| title_fullStr | Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle coupling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle coupling |
| title_short | Physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple-spindle coupling |
| title_sort | physical activity simultaneously improves working memory and ripple spindle coupling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08618-3 |
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