Naps Are Good For Improving Memory — If You Dream!
A recent study suggests that taking that afternoon power nap may improve your ability to process and store information ten times — if you dream while you're sleeping.
A study conducted by Robert Stickgold and his colleagues at the Center for Sleep and Cognition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center involved 99 college students who were asked to memorize a complex maze on a computer. Students were then placed inside a virtual, 3-D version of the maze and were asked go to another spot within it. Half of the participants took a 90-minute nap while the other half stayed awake and watched videos.
Students who took naps fared better than those who stayed up even five hours later. One significant component of the study though is that the nappers dreamt of the maze succeeded 10 times better than those who didn't.
Sleeping seems to make the brain process information on one level, but dreaming about the information helps the brain process it more efficiently.
The study's findings emphasize the significance of sleep is to our memory and mental functions.
The researchers suggested that a better test-taking strategy would be to study hard and get the basic information, and then to take a nap. Hopefully, the nap will help students to solidify what they have learned