Time of day and sleep effects on motor acquisition and consolidation

We investigated the influence of the time-of-day and sleep on skill acquisition (skill improvement immediately after a training-session) and consolidation (skill retention after a time interval including sleep). Three groups were trained at 10 a.m. (G10am), 3 p.m. (G3pm), or 8 p.m. (G8pm) on a finger-tapping task. Skill (ratio between movement duration and accuracy) was recorded before and immediately after training to evaluate acquisition, and after 24 h to measure consolidation. Acquisition did not differ by time-of-day. After 24 h, performance improved for the evening training group (G8pm), while the morning (G10am) and afternoon (G3pm) groups deteriorated and stabilized, respectively. Two control experiments (G8awake and G8sleep) supported that a night of sleep contributes to the skill consolidation observed in the evening group. These results show consolidation when training is carried out in the evening, close to sleep, and forgetting when training is carried out in the morning, away from sleep, with implications for planning training programs in sports, clinical, or experimental domains.

Charlène Truong, Célia Ruffino, Jérémie Gaveau, Olivier White, Pauline M. Hilt, Charalambos Papaxanthis