'Sleeping on it' may help improve memory and learning—study
Ever faced with a difficult task and feel like you hit a wall, so you eventually decide to "sleep on it"? A study shows that getting some shuteye first may help you perform better.
Research published in the Journal of Neuroscience, led by Dara Monoach from Harvard Medical School, found that the rhythmic brain activity, or spindles, during sleep helps consolidate task-related information into your memory.
For the study, researchers recorded the brain activity of 25 healthy adults who learned a typing sequence and were afterward asked to nap. They found that in sleep, there was an increase in rhythmic brain activity in cortical areas that were active during learning.
The scientists also found a difference in brain activity before and after sleep. Learning during training, or pre-nap, saw an increase in rhythmic brain activity in motor execution regions, while post-nap improvement was linked to increases in motor planning regions.
From this, the researchers speculate that rhythmic activity in the motor execution regions represents memory while those in the planning region enhance future performance.
"Our findings demonstrate that spindle expression is influenced by prior learning, and support the theory that spindles in regions engaged during learning promote the brain plasticity necessary for motor memory consolidation," the abstract of the study read. Brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability to learn and adapt.
In December 2024, a study from the University of South Australia found that NREM sleep enhances language learning by synchronizing brain activity and improving memory consolidation. Participants who slept performed better in learning a new language than those who remained awake.