Women taking an afternoon nap (Photo : Reuters/Greg Bos)
Researchers at Saarland University in Germany found out that an hour-long nap can help improve memory function
According to Tech Times, the study was published in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. In the study, the researchers showed participants multiple pairs of unrelated words. After that, half of the study participants took a nap, whereas the other half of the participants watched a DVD for 30 minutes. The German researchers tested the participants again. They found that subjects who took a nap retained more word pairs in memory than subjects who watched a DVD.
Professor Axel Mecklinger, lead author of the study, said, "A short nap at the office or in school is enough to significantly improve learning success. Wherever people are in a learning environment, we should think seriously about the positive effects of sleep."
Mecklinger further said, "Even a short sleep lasting 45 to 60 minutes produces a five-fold improvement in information retrieval from memory."
The German researchers used electroencephalogram (EEG) tests in order to find out how naps appeared to improve memory. They specifically focused on the role of the hippocampus. The hippocampus, a brain region that consolidates memory, transfers previously learned information into long-term memory storage, according to Huffington Post.
The EEG tests disclosed that the brain's activity during sleep appears to increase the ability of the hippocampus to consolidate information.
Mecklinger said, "The hippocampus, when awake, reactivates the neural firing pattern that was also active during learning. This replay may produce 'tags' which are then used for consolidation during sleep."
However, it is still not clear why some memories are enhanced during a short nap while others aren't.
