naa a22 4500 528784293 20180924065517.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180924e201608 xx s 000 0 eng 10.3929/ethz-b-000119786 doi 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00408 doi (ETHRESEARCH)oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/119786 Reconsolidation of motor memories is a time-dependent process [Elektronische Daten] [Toon T. de Beukelaar, Daniel G. Woolley, Kaat Alaerts, Stephan P. Swinnen, Nicole Wenderoth] Open access ethresearch Reconsolidation is observed when a consolidated stable memory is recalled, which renders it transiently labile and requires re-stabilization. Motor memory reconsolidation has previously been demonstrated using a three-day design: on day 1 the memory is encoded, on day 2 it is reactivated and experimentally manipulated, and on day 3 memory strength is tested. The aim of the current study is to determine specific boundary conditions in order to consistently degrade motor memory through reconsolidation paradigms. We investigated a sequence tapping task (n = 48) with the typical three-day design and confirmed that reactivating the motor sequence briefly (10 times tapping the learned motor sequence) destabilizes the memory trace and makes it susceptible to behavioral interference. By systematically varying the time delay between memory reactivation and interference while keeping all other aspect constant we found that a short delay (i.e., 20 s) significantly decreased performance on day 3, whereas performance was maintained or small (but not significant) improvements were observed for longer delays (i.e., 60 s). We also tested a statistical model that assumed a linear effect of the different time delays (0 s, 20 s, 40 s, 60 s) on the performance changes from day 2 to day 3. This linear model revealed a significant effect consistent with the interpretation that increasing time delays caused a gradual change from performance degradation to performance conservation across groups. These findings indicate that re-stabilizing motor sequence memories during reconsolidation does not solely rely on additional motor practice but occurs with the passage of time. This study provides further support for the hypothesis that reconsolidation is a time-dependent process with a transition phase from destabilization to re-stabilization. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ethresearch Consolidation ethresearch Reconsolidation ethresearch Motor learning ethresearch Sequence task ethresearch Memory updating ethresearch de Beukelaar Toon T. joint author Woolley Daniel G. joint author Alaerts Kaat joint author Swinnen Stephan P. joint author Wenderoth Nicole joint author Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Lausanne : Frontiers Research Foundation 10, p. 408 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/119786 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) 1 Journal Article ethresearch ETHRESEARCH 856 40 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/119786 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) ETHRESEARCH 700 1- de Beukelaar Toon T. joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Woolley Daniel G. joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Alaerts Kaat joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Swinnen Stephan P. joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Wenderoth Nicole joint author ETHRESEARCH 773 0- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Lausanne : Frontiers Research Foundation 10, p. 408 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH Journal Article Open access