Attention College Students – Naps May Improve Your Memory

Preliminary research from the University of California – Berkeley suggests that a midday nap readies the brain to remember and take in new information.

Researchers took a group and at noon presented them with a task to link faces with names. At 6:00 p.m., after half of the group had a 90-minute nap, everyone was presented with a similar task. The group that did not have a nap had performance declines of 10%. The group that was allowed to nap did not show such a decline in performance.

Sleep Plays An Important Role In Learning

This research tends to support the importance of sleep as it relates to learning. “This is further evidence that sleep plays a crucial role in the processing of memories. It provides more evidence that it’s not just important to sleep after learning, but you need it before learning to prepare the brain for laying down new information,” stated Matthew Walker, lead project researcher.

These findings may prove especially useful to college students, who frequently are sleep deprived. Getting adequate rest before and after study sessions might be another way to improve their G.P.A.