Long-term memory formation is a major function of sleep. Based on evidence from neurophysiological and behavioral studies mainly in humans and rodents, we consider the formation of long-term memory during sleep as an active systems consolidation process that is embedded in a process of global synaptic downscaling. Repeated neuronal replay of representations originating from the hippocampus during slow-wave sleep leads to a gradual transformation and integration of representations in neocortical networks. We highlight three features of this process: (i) hippocampal replay that, by capturing episodic memory aspects, drives consolidation of both hippocampus-dependent and non-hippocampus-dependent memory; (ii) brain oscillations hallmarking slow-wave and rapid-eye movement sleep that provide mechanisms for regulating both information flow across distant brain networks and local synaptic plasticity; and (iii) qualitative transformations of memories during systems consolidation resulting in abstracted, gist-like representations.

长期记忆形成是睡眠的主要功能。基于主要在人类和啮齿动物上进行的神经生理和行为研究的证据，我们认为睡眠期间长期记忆的形成是一种活跃的系统整合过程，嵌入在全球突触缩减过程中。在慢波睡眠过程中，源自海马体的表征反复出现神经元重放，导致新皮质网络中的表征逐渐转化和整合。我们着重指出此过程的三个特征：（i）海马重播，通过捕获情景记忆方面的内容，可驱动海马依赖性和非海马依赖性记忆的整合；（ii）以慢波和快速眼动睡眠为特征的大脑振荡，为调节跨远距离大脑网络的信息流和局部突触可塑性提供了机制；（iii）系统整合过程中记忆的质变，从而产生抽象的，类似要点的表示形式。