The National Institute of Mental Health discovered that the brain processes new and old memories separately during sleep. Their research offers insight into how the brain accepts new information and how it is stored. Research was done at Cornell University with mice and people monitoring their brain activity between REM and non-REM sleep. They collected data that supports non-REM sleep is mainly where new memories are being activated during small pupil states, and older memories activate larger pupil states. They measured neural activity in the hippocampus and saw how retention of memory was altered depending on specific pupil states.
This helps understand the importance of sleep in mental health. These findings helped researchers find how new and old memories are kept without mixing the two during sleep. Mental health disorders are often linked to memory issues, which can contribute to a lack of sleep. Learning about sleep and the REM cycle can help understand the way memories are formed and provide a better understanding of memory recall and retention.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-updates/2025/how-the-brain-creates-new-memories-while-maintaining-old-ones
https://elifesciences.org/articles/80030
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