A June 2021 study by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the US National Institutes of Health said,
"This is the first demonstration of wakeful neural replay of a newly learned skill elicited by practice in humans,"
"This study is also the first to show that wakeful replay predicts rapid consolidation of skill, which is responsible for early learning."
"The strong involvement of hippocampal and medio-temporal activity in replay of a procedural motor memory was surprising, given that this type of memory is often thought of as not requiring hippocampal contributions,"
"Taken together, our data indicate that frequent, fast waking replay reinforces hippocampus and neocortical associations learned during prior practice--a process relevant for improving subsequent performance and wakeful consolidation of skill."
"In the end, understanding features of wakeful replay important for skill learning could lead to the optimization of therapy schedules or identification of better brain stimulation strategies aimed at enhancing rehabilitation outcomes after brain lesions like stroke,"