Memory study induces sleeping people to forget word associations

Research finds participants' recall of certain material decreased after being played audio while asleep

Playing sounds while you slumber might help to strengthen some memories while weakening others, research suggests, with experts noting the approach might one day help people living with traumatic recollections.

Previous work has shown that when a sound is played as a person learns an association between two words, the memory of that word association is boosted if the same sound is played while the individual sleeps.